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Frontispiece'  %  Z  I*  i  /  .'"•.'      =  •  ,#;    •«      «    „• 

ROBERT    fao"RRISON 

(A  little  known  portrait,  from  an  oil  painting  in  the  Board  Room 
of  the  London  Missionary  Society) 


THE  REGENERATION 

OF 

NEW  CHINA 


BY 


NELSON   BITTON 


i\ 


FORMERLY  ASSOCIATE-EDITOR   OK    "  THE   CHINESE   RECORDER,"   SHANGHAI 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY  THE  REV. 

LORD  WILLIAM  GASCOYNE-CECIL) 


>       9  \  •*   t  !     »V« 


LONDON 

UNITED  COUNCIL  FOR  MISSIONARY  EDUCATION 

CATHEDRAL  HOUSE,  8  PATERNOSTER  ROW,  E.C. 


JJS7'3 


*  »    >        «  ♦        • 

. <  *  '  '     '  *  *  .   •    • 


»    » « 


TURNBULL   AND    SPEARS,    PRINTERS,    EDINBURGH 


INTRODUCTION 

By  the  Rev.  Lord  William  Gascoyne- 

Cecil 

This  book  scarcely  needs  a  word  of  mine  to 
recommend  it. 

The  intense  interest  that  the  recent  develop- 
ments in  China  have  aroused  in  those  who 
have  the  cause  of  the  Redeemer  near  at  heart 
makes  any  book  giving  reliable  information 
on  the  happenings  in  China  of  great  value. 
Even  among  those  who  have  not  had  much 
faith  in  Foreign  Missions,  this  book  will  be 
read  with  great  interest,  and  must  have  a  con- 
siderable effect  in  convincing  such  of  the 
vital  importance  of  this  question.  They  will 
find  set  out  herein  facts  to  convince  them 
that  the  cause  of  Christianity  is  essentially 
one  ;  that  the  banner  of  Christ  must  either 
go  on  to  victory,  bringing  other  lands  within 
its  gentle  servitude,  or  it  must  retire  before 
the  forces  of  materialism,  which,  if  they  ever 
establish  themselves  in  the  Far  East,  will 
surely  from  that  vantage  point  injure  the  West 
seriously.  331522 


in 


iv       Regeneration  of  New  China 

The  false  conception  that  we  can  be  safe 
while  others  are  in  danger  is  as  untrue  as  it 
is  immoral.  The  growing  unity  in  commer- 
cial, financial,  political  and  scientific  matters 
renders  a  divergence  in  religion  more  and 
more  impossible ;  as  the  British  colony  cannot 
receive  the  Asiatic  emigrant,  so  Christendom 
will  not  be  able  to  suffer  a  non-Christian 
China.  The  distance  which  has  separated 
us  has  disappeared ;  China  must  become  a 
sharer  of  our  industrial  life,  and  it  would  be 
as  idle  to  suppose  that  we  can  be  indifferent 
to  her  conditions  as  it  would  be  for  Manchester 
to  ignore  the  social  and  moral  conditions  of 
London. 

In  this  book  the  victory  of  Christ  in  China 
is  related  ;  it  is  not  complete,  but  there  is 
every  reason  for  hope,  though  none  for  slack- 
ness. The  battle  is  won  if  we  all  fight  hard, 
it  is  only  lost  if  we  are  indifferent. 

The  Author  deals  very  fully  with  the  ques- 
tion of  Union.  Perhaps  there  I  may  differ 
a  little  from  his  view,  not  because  I  do  not 
value  any  effort  towards  re-union,  but  because 
I  am  sufficiently  optimistic  to  believe  that 
the  conquest  of  the  East  for  Christ  will  so 
alter  men's  perspective  in  religious  matters 
that  they  will  view  the  words  Protestant  and 
Catholic  as  we  view  the  armour  nailed  upon 


Introduction  v 

the  wall  of  the  old  Hall :  we  consider  it  in- 
teresting because  it  was  used  in  a  fight  that 
was  once  fought,  but  the  interest  is  of  an 
historic  nature. 

With  this  one  exception  I  commend  the 
book  unreservedly  to  the  reader,  asking  him 
to  pray  that  the  time  may  be  soon  when  the 
Christian  spirit  may  animate  China,  and  that 
she  in  return  may  contribute  to  the  West 
an  interpretation  of  the  truth  which  may 
make  all  believers,  Catholic  or  Protestant, 
essentially  one. 


CONTENTS 


PAGES 


Introduction  by  the  Kev.  Lord  William 

Gascoyne-Cecil           .         .         ,  iii 

List  op  Illustrations       .         .                  .  .     xv 

Editor's  Preface      .         .         .         .         .  .  xvii 

Author's  Preface     .         .         .                 .  .     xx 

CHAP. 

I.  New  and  Old  in  China  To-day 

Power  of  the  Past  in  China  ....   1-8 

Her  Great  History         .         .         .  .       1 

Influence  of  Ancestor- Worship        .  .       3 

Resurgence  of  the  Old  amidst  the  New  .       6 

Permanence  oj  the  Change  in  China    .  8-17 
Stirrings  of   Reform   Spirit   under 

Kwang  Hsu  .....       9 

Reform  strengthened  by  Opposition  .     12 

Revolution  really  Mental  and  Moral  .     15 

Return  to  Obscurantism  impossible  .     16 

The  Problem  oj  the  Chinese  Youth        .  17-27 

His  Changed  Environment    .         .  .18 

His  Unchanged  Ambitions     .         .  .23 

His  Call  to  Leadership  .         .         .  .25 

A  Personal  and  Religious  Problem  .     26 

vii 


viii    Regeneration  of  New  China 

CHAP.  PAGES 

II.  Religion  and  the  Character  of  the  Race 

Religious  Nature  of  the  Chinese  .  29-35 

Theories    of    Origin    of    Chinese 

Religions  .  .  .  .  .30 
Belief  in  a  Supreme  Being  and  in 

Intermediary  Spirits       .         .  .32 

Religious  Immobility    .         .         .  .34 

The  "  Three  Religions  "  oj  China  .         35-46 

Mutual  Toleration  of  Chinese 

Religions  .  .  .  .  .35 
Characteristics     of    Confucianism, 

Taoism,  and  Buddhism  .  .  .36 
Mohammedanism  in  China  ,  .  .40 
Shortcomings  of  Confucianism  and 

Buddhist    attempts    to    meet 

them    .         .         .         .         .         .41 

Buddhist  Influence  on  Taoism  and 

Confucianism         .         .         .         .42 

The  Religious  Upbringing  oj  the  Chinese 

Youth 46-49 

Relationship  to  Ancestral  Spirits   .  .     47 

Practical  Effect  of  Spiritism  .         .  .48 

Outcome  oj  the   "  Three   Religions "  in 

Chinese  Characteristics       .  .  49-56 

Taoism  and  Superstition        .  .  .49 

Confucianism  and  Agnosticism  .  .     50 

Confucianism  and  Prayer      .  .  .51 

The  Confucian  "  Superior  Man  "  .  .52 

Buddhism  and  the  Devotional  Life  .     54 

Christianity  confronting  not  only  Chinese 
Religions,  but  Western  Materialism 
.   and  Rationalism        .  .         .         56-58 


Contents 


IX 


CHAP.  PAGES 

III.  Christianity  and  the  Great  Awakening 


Awakening  distinguished  from 
Revolution    . 


59 


Continuity  of  Christian  Influence  .  .  60-71 

Nestorian  Missions        .         .  .  .62 

Early  Roman  Missions           .  .  .65 

Ricci   and   the   Second   Period  of 

Roman  Missions    .         ...  .66 

Aims   and  Failure   of  Policy  .  .     68 

The  Greek  Church  in  China  .  .  .70 


Channels  oj  Modern  Missionary  In- 
fluence    ..... 
Morrison  and  translation  work     . 
The   Malacca   Institution   and   its 

Educational  Outlook 
Early  Medical  Missions  in  China     . 
Social   and   Political   Influence   of 

Missionaries  . 
Interpretation  of  China  to  the  West 


71-33 
71 

74 
76 

78 
81 


Roots  oj  Reform  in  China  .         .         83-90 

Western  and  Christian  Literature  .         .     83 
Public  Preaching  of  the  Gospel       .         .     86 
Individual  Relationships  of  Mission- 
aries with  Chinese .         .         .         .87 
The  Resultant  Task      ....     90 


IV.  Christianity  and  the  New  Order 

Reality  oj  the  New  Order       .         .         .  92-96 
Sceptical  Observers  and  the  Reply 

to  them         .         .         .         .  .  ^  92 

Moral  Forces  behind  the  Revolution  .     95 


x        Regeneration  of  New  China 

CHAP.  PAGES 

IV  (continued) — 

\    Patriotism  and  Social  Reform  Stimu- 

\              lated  by  Christianity  .         .         .  97-105 

Growth  of  the  Sense  of  Patriotism .  .  98 
Remedial  Movements — 

(i)  Anti-footbinding         .         .  .  100 

(ii)  Anti-Opium        ....  101 

(iii)  Famine  and  Plague  Relief   .  .  102 

7  Educational      Developments     [due      to 

Missions           ....  105-110 

Change  in  Attitude  of  Chinese        .  .   106 
The  Church  and  the  Training  of 

Educational  Pioneers     .         .  .   108 

Greatness  of  the  Opportunity         .  .110 

Literature  and  Christian  Influence .  .  111-117 
Reverence  for  Literature  and  for  the 

Scholar        *  111 
Difficulties  Bridged  by  the  Foreigner  .   113 
Literary  Achievements  of  Mission- 
aries     .        .         .         .         .  .  114 

Formation  oj  Public  Opinion         .  .  117-118 

Power  of  the  Preacher  .         .  .  .117 

Need  of  the  New  Order  for  the 

Prophet         .         .         .  .  .   118 

V.  The  Christian   Church  and  the  Heritage 
op  the  Past  in  China 

Traits  oj  Character  .  .  .  .  120-128 
Utilitarianism  and  Practical  Test 

in  Religion  .  .  .  .  .120 
Lack  of  Spirituality  :    Danger  of 

Formalism  .....  122 
Credulity  :  Danger  of  Superstition  .   125 

Lack  of  Public  Spirit :  Danger  of 

Selfishness  and  Indifference     .         .   127 


Contents 


XI 


CHAP. 


V  (continued) — 

Social  and  Religious  Custom 

Gambling    ..... 

Concubinage  and  Polygamy  . 

Official  Peculation 

Ancestor- Worship  :  Varying  Inter- 
pretations 

Worship  at  the  Graves  :  Valuable 
Elements      .... 

The  Moon  Festival 

Inheritances  helpful  to  the  Church 

Family  Unity  and   Sense   of   Re- 
sponsibility .... 
Reasoned  Reverence  for  Literature 


Complexity  of  the  Problem   . 

VI.  The  Christian  Church  in  China  and 
Development 

Necessity  oj  Indigenous  Christianity 

Limitations   of    the   Foreign   Mis- 
sionary 
Notable  Chinese  Christians 
Weakness    of    Westernising    Ten 
dencies 

Christian  Leadership    . 

Examples  in  Public  Life 

Need  of  similar  Development  in  the 

Church 

Chinese  Students  and  the  Ministry 
Place  of  Women  . 
Reaching  the  People 

The  Chinese  Church     . 
Preachers  and  Pastors 
Worship 

Movement  towards  Unity 
The  Task  of  the  Missionary 


l'AGES 

128-138 
.  129 
.  129 
.  130 

.  133 

.  135 
.  137 

139-144 

.  140 
.  143 

144-145 


ITS 


147-155 

.  148 
.  150 

.  152 

156-168 
.  156 

.  160 

.  162 

.  165 

.  167 

16&-180 
.  169 
.  171 
.  173 
.  179 


xii      Regeneration  of  New  China 

CHAP.  PAGES 

VII.  The  Christian  Church  and  the  Problems 
of  the  Nation 


The  New  Leaven 

.182 

Christianity  and  Chinese  Communism 

183-192 

The  Family  and  the  Clan 

.   184 

The  Guild 

.   187 

Resultant  Problems  of  Conduct 

.   187 

Christianity     and    Social    Reform     in 

China      ..... 

192-210 

Domestic  Slavery  and  Vice    . 

.   193 

Marriage  Customs 

.   195 

Poverty       ..... 

.   197 

Status  of  Women 

.   198 

"  Face  "  and  Suicide     . 

.  201 

Infanticide  ..... 

.   203 

Gambling    ..... 

.   206 

The    Movement    towards    Social 

Service          .... 

.  207 

The  Use  of  Sunday 

.  210 

The  Church  and  Political  Advance. 

210-216 

Christian  Leaders  and  Danger  of 

Party  Influence 

.   211 

Need   of   Regeneration   in   Official 

Life      ..... 

.   212 

Strength   and   Weakness   of   Con- 

fucianism     .... 

.   213 

China's  Last  Hope 

.   216 

VIII.  The  Christian  Church  in  China  and  its 
Claim  upon  the  West 

Magnitude  oj  the  Task          .         .         .  218-223 
Population  compared  with  Chris- 
tian Community    .         .         .  .   220 
Extent  of  Christian  Occupation     .  .221 


Contents 


Xlll 


CHAP. 

VIII  (continued) — 

Nature  of  the  Service  Required 
Essentially  Co-operative 
Christian  Evangelisation 
Christian  Strategy 
A  Plan  of  Campaign 
Christian  Unity 
Christian  Humility 

Motives  for  Response  .         . 

Contribution  of  China  to  Christian 

Character      .         .  -   . 

The  Inevitable  Effects  of  Refusing 

the  Call        . 
The  Heart  of  the  Enterprise 


PAGES 


223-239 

.  224 

.  224 

.  226 

.  231 

.  235 

.  237 

239-251 
.  240 


.   242 
.   246 


APPENDICES 

I.  Historical  Notes  on  British  Missionary 

Societies  in  China  ....  253 

II.  Power  of  the  Press  in  China       .         .  258 

III.  Statistical  Tables          ....  260 

A.  Missions     in     China,    not     including 
Roman  Catholic 

(i)  General    .....  260 

(ii)  Medical    .....  261 

(iii)  Educational      ....  262 

B.  Roman  Catholic  Missions  .         .         .  263 

IV.  Work  among  Chinese  in  Great  Britain  .  265 

V.  Significant    Dates  in  the    History  of 

Christian  Missions  in  China     .         .  267 

SELECT  LIST  OF  BOOKS     ....  269 

Index 280 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Robert  Morrison 


.  Frontispiece 


FACING   PAGE 

The  Wonder  of  China's  Waterways    .         .  2 


A  Confucian  Temple 

The  First  Chinese  Parliament 


ERRATUM 

Illustration  facing  Page  83 

For  "The  Anglo-Chinese  College" 
read  "  Municipal  Buildings  " 


7 
14 


The  "  Willow-Pattern  "  Tea-House 

A  Gift  to  those  that  have  Gone 

A  Haunt  of  Ancient  Peace 

Pastor  Ding  Li  Mei 

Mr  C.  T.  Wang      . 

A  Temple  Courtyard    . 

The  Blind  Leading  the  Blind 

The  Importunate  Widow 

With  Heart  and  Voice 

A  Chinese  Evangelist  . 

The  Rev.  Cheng  Ching-Yi     . 


123 
130 
138 
147 
155 
170 
187 
202 
219 
234 
243 


XV 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Robert  Morrison 


.  Frontispiece 


A  Confucian  Temple     .... 

The  First  Chinese  Parliament 

A  Reconstructed  Portrait  of  Confucius 

From  a  Buddhist  Temple 

A  Buddhist  Priest        .... 

The  Infallible      .... 

Departed  Glory   ..... 

The  Anglo-Chinese  College,  Tien-Tsin 

A  Reaping  Song 

One  of  the  Possibilities  of  Modern  China 

The  Good  Shepherd      .... 

The  "  Willow-Pattern  "  Tea-House 

A  Gift  to  those  that  have  Gone 

A  Haunt  of  Ancient  Peace 

Pastor  Ding  Li  Mei 

Mr  C.  T.  Wang      . 

A  Temple  Courtyard    . 

The  Blind  Leading  the  Blind 

The  Importunate  Widow 

With  Heart  and  Voice 

A  Chinese  Evangelist  . 

The  Rev.  Cheng  Ching-Yi     . 


XV 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 

After  fifteen  years  of  varied  service  as  a 
missionary  in  China,  the  author  of  this  book 
was  under  appointment  as  a  Secretary  to  the 
Christian  Literature  Society  of  China  in  as- 
sociation with  Dr  Timothy  Richard.  Ill- 
health,  however,  necessitated  his  return  to 
England;  but  happily  he  has  been  able  for 
the  past  two  years  to  devote  himself  to  the 
work  of  a  Mission  Board  Secretary  at  home. 
He  is  thus  doubly  qualified  to  write  on  the 
vital  matters  with  which  the  book  deals. 

The  illness  and  death  of  the  Rev.  A.  N. 
Johnson,  M.A.,  deprived  the  United  Council 
for  Missionary  Education  of  a  Chairman  whose 
grace,  tactful  wisdom  and  spirit  of  Christian 
fellowship  it  greatly  prized.  Upon  Mr  Bitton 
as  his  Mission  House  colleague  there  devolved 
a  double  burden  of  work  just  when,  in  addition, 
this  book  was  being  written.  For  the  cheer- 
ful strenuousness  with  which,  under  these 
circumstances,  the  Author  so  well  fulfilled 
his  task,  the  Editor  and  his  Committee  wish 
to  express  their  thanks. 

No  effort  has  been  spared  to  render  these 

xvii 


xviii  Editor's  Preface 

chapters  strong  and  adequate  as  a  basis  of 
discussion  and  a  call  to  action.  They  are 
designed  primarily  to  present  the  salient 
facts  of  the  situation  and  not  to  set  forth 
personal  or  sectional  opinions.  In  addition 
to  the  ungrudging  help  of  the  members  of  the 
Council  forming  the  Editorial  Committee, 
the  Editor  would  gratefully  acknowledge 
the  most  valuable  assistance  of  the  following 
among  many  authorities  who,  having  read 
the  proofs,  have  furnished  comments  and 
suggestions  : — 

J.  Dyer  Ball,  Esq.,  I.S.O.,  late  of  Hong- 
Kong  ;  the  Rev.  F.  Bay  lis,  M.A.,  Secretary 
to  the  C.M.S. ;  Marshall  Broomhall,  Esq., 
B.A.,  of  the  C.I.M. ;  the  Rev.  Canon  Lord 
William  Gascoyne-Cecil,  author  of  Changing 
China,  etc. ;  K.  L.  Chau,  Esq.,  B.A.,  Secre- 
tary to  the  Chinese  Students'  Christian  Union ; 
the  Rev.  Henry  Haigh,  D.D.,  Secretary  to 
the  W.M.M.S. ;  H.  T.  Hodgkin,  Esq.,  M.A., 
M.B.,  Secretary  to  the  F.F.M.A. ;  Miss  E.  G. 
Kemp,  Author  of  The  Face  of  China,  etc. ; 
Mrs  A.  E.  Little,  Author  of  Intimate  China, 
The  Land  of  the  Blue  Gown,  etc. ;  the  Rev. 
Evan  Morgan,  of  the  Christian  Literature 
Society,  Shanghai ;  the  Ven.  A.  E.  Moule, 
D.D.,  sometime  Archdeacon  in  Mid-China; 
the   Rev.  J.  H.  Ritson,  M.A.,  Secretary  to 


Regeneration  of  New  China     xix 

the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society ;  the 
Rev.  W.  E.  Soothill,  M.A.,  late  Principal  of 
Shansi  University  and  Principal- elect  of  the 
Central  China  University ;  the  Rev.  John 
Steele,  M.A.,  D.Lit.,  late  of  Swatow,  Secre- 
tary to  the  British  Board  of  Study  for  the 
Preparation  of  Missionaries;  Miss  M.  Synge, 
of  the  S.P.G. ;  the  Rev.  S.  G.  Tope,  of  the 
W.M.M.S.,  Fatshan;  and  the  Rev.  H.  G. 
Whitcher,  B.Sc,  of  the  B.M.S.,  Weihsien. 

For  photographs  the  Editor  is  indebted 
to  the  Author,  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Ritson,  M.A., 
the  Rev.  C.  E.  Darwent,  M.A.,  the  Missionary 
Education  Movement  of  America,  and  the 
London  Missionary  Society. 

Basil  A.  Yeaxlee 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 

In  the  preparation  of  this  book  the  author 
was  guided  by  the  request  of  his  friends  and 
advisers,  the  members  of  the  United  Council 
for  Missionary  Education,  that  he  should  take 
an  elementary  knowledge  of  the  missionary 
situation  for  granted  on  the  part  of  his  readers. 
It  was  felt  that  the  times  called  for  a  study  of 
outstanding  problems  now  facing  the  Christian 
propaganda  and  the  Christian  Church  in 
China.  The  author  would  seek  to  disarm  in 
advance  an  obvious  measure  of  criticism  by 
referring  for  information  upon  points  of  history, 
geography,  missionary  occupation  and  so  on, 
to  the  other  books  on  China  published  by  the 
Council,  namely,  The  Uplift  of  China  and 
The  New  Life  in  China. 

The  author  is  conscious  that  many  aspects 
of  the  missionary  problem  in  China  are  hinted 
at  rather  than  expounded,  but  in  palliation 
he  would  plead  the  limitations  of  space,  and 
also  the  deliberate  desire  to  provoke  thought 
and  discussion  on  the  part  of  the  readers  of 
this  volume  rather  than  to  get  them  to  accept 
cut  and  dried  conclusions. 


XX 


Author's  Preface  xxi 

To  those  who  have  carefully  followed  the 
course  of  recent  events  in  China,  and  have 
noted  the  striking  vicissitudes  of  the  past 
three  years,  the  reasons  which  have  led  to 
emphasis  being  laid  in  this  book  upon  the 
foundation  principles  of  progress  in  Chinese 
life,  and  not  upon  the  more  obvious,  but 
external,  facts  of  change,  will  be  clear.  The 
endeavour  has  been  to  pierce  the  changing 
exterior  of  political  conditions  and  prospects, 
and  to  reach  the  more  solid  basis  of  national 
life  and  character,  and  to  realise  the  progress 
there  revealed. 

The  student  of  missionary  affairs  will  be 
specially  careful  not  to  allow  himself  to  be 
led  astray  by  too  great  an  immersion  in  the 
consideration  of  the  changes  which  mark 
China's  recent  political  history,  forgetful  of 
the  change  which  is  symptomatic  of  the  nation's 
underlying  life,  and  which  the  missionary 
enterprise,  during  the  past  two  generations 
has  done  so  much  to  bring  about.  This  book 
is  not  intended  as  an  exposition  of  the  current 
political  facts  in  relation  to  the  missionary 
task,  but  an  attempt  to  deal  with  those  more 
constant  factors  with  which  the  missionary 
worker  has  finally  to  deal. 

The  author  trusts  that  the  study  of  his 
work  may  be  made,  under  God,  the  occasion 


xxii  Author's  Preface 

of  a  considerable  advance  in  the  study  of  the 
problems  awaiting  solution  in  China  at  the 
hands  of  the  Christian  Gospel,  and  that 
there  may  ensue  a  deepened  desire  on  the 
part  of  the  members  of  our  Churches  in  the 
homeland  to  serve  in  the  spirit  of  the  Master 
this  most  worthy  people  whose  present  need 
is  so  urgent,  and  whose  future  importance  for 
the  history  of  the  world  is  so  incalculably  great. 

NELSON  BITTON 

London,  May  1914- 


;   .    ••■•>•  *•■«:•«  >.•  J 

»•    *  '  »  »     ••'"••It 

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CHAPTER  I 


■ 


w-    -«-^      y-».t      vi 


r  t  t  \t  a      npr^v    1A  A  "V7 


TA<?  Regeneration  of  New  China. 

To  face  page  1  of  text. 

NOTE 

This  text-book  is  intended  primarily  for  use  in  Mission  Study 
Circles,  and  in  connection  with  it  Suggestions  to  Leaders  con- 
cerning the  making  of  assignments,  etc.,  have  been  prepared. 
The  Editorial  Committee  strongly  recommend  all  Circles  to  make 
use  of  these  "Suggestions."  They  may  be  obtained  by  writing 
to  the  Mission  Study  Secretary  at  any  of  the  addresses  given 
below. 

The  following  Editions  of  this  text-book  are  published  : — 

Baptist  Missionary  Society,  19  Furnival  Street,  E.C. 
Church  Missionary  Society,  Salisbury  Square,  E.C. 
London  Missionary  Society,  16  New  Bridge  Street,  E.C. 
Student  Christian  Movement,  93  Chancery  Lane,  W.C. 
Church  of  Scotland  Foreign  Mission  Committee, 

22  Queen  Street,  Edinburgh. 
United   Free   Church  of   Scotland   Mission   Study  Council, 

121  George  Street,  Edinburgh. 
United  Council  for  Missionary  Education, 

8  Paternoster  Row,  E.C. 


have  in  'view  these  as  well  as  the  discoveries 
and  exigencies  of  the  present,  as  they  frame 
the  policy  and  express  the  life  of  the  nation. 


xxii  Author's  Preface 

of  a  considerable  advance  in  the  study  of  the 
problems  awaiting  solution  in  China  at  the 
hands  of  the  Christian  Gospel,  and  that 
there  may  ensue  a  deepened  desire  on  the 
part  of  the  members  of  our  Churches  in  the 


•  •» 


•    *  »      <■  * 

•      "!         1        i  • 


«       • 


•  "       • 


•  #*   •  •  • » >  ^  '• 
CHAPTER  I 

NEW  AND  OLD  IN  CHINA  TO-DAY 

If  for  no  other  reason  than  that  of  extreme 
antiquity  China  is  deserving  of  the  serious 
attention  of  all  those  who  have  any  interest  power  of 

THE  PAST 

in  the  progress  of  the  world  and  the  welfare  in  china. 
of   men.     A   nation   which  has   recorded  its 
history,  faithfully  and  fairly,  through  nearly 
3000  years,  and  which  has  a  legendary  his- 
tory of  more  or  less  historic  value  reaching  Her  Great 
back   2000  years  beyond  that,  is  in  a  posi-    1S  ory* 
tion   to  teach  the   modern  world    lessons  of 
the  very  highest  order.     When  all  the  present 
disruptive  chaDges  through  which  the  nation 
is  passing,  and  under  which  her  people  are 
suffering,  have  had  their  day,  and  China  has 
arrived    at    a    point    of    assured    social    and 
political   stability   (as   yet   by   no   means   in 
prospect),   the   eyes   of    her    statesmen    and 
leaders  will  assuredly  turn  again  to  the  teach- 
ing and  experience  of  the  past ;    they  will 
have  in  view  these  as  well  as  the  discoveries 
and  exigencies  of  the  present,  as  they  frame 
the  policy  and  express  the  life  of  the  nation. 


2         Regeneration  of  New  China 

In  face  of  ;the  present  conditions  of  Chinese 
national  life,  the  tremendous  influences  of 
Western  thought  and  civilization  upon  the 
whole  of  the  life  and  outlook  of  the  people, 
the  unrest  which  has  permeated  every  class 
and  condition,  and  the  resultant  confusion 
in  every  sphere  of  national  activity,  it  would 
be  easy  to  exaggerate  the  bearing  of  our 
modern  civilization  upon  the  future  of  China. 
We  must  remember  the  inevitable  tendency 
of  long  experience  to  assert  itself  when  the 
novelties  of  change  have  lost  much  of  their 
force,  and  are  viewed  comparatively.  No 
historic  nation  can  shed  its  past  as  if  it  were 
a  mere  superfluity,  and  less  than  most  nations 
is  China  likely  so  to  do.  The  present  obses- 
sion in  favour  of  change  all  round,  and  the 
self-deprecatory  attitude  of  many  of  China's 
advanced  young  men,  are  bound  to  suffer 
modification.  The  voice  of  the  countless 
generations  of  the  nation's  age-long  past  will 
then  be  heard  speaking  more  clearly  than 
now,  while  the  spirit  of  revolt  is  still  in  the 
air,  and  that  moderation  which  is  one  of  the 
features  of  the  normal  life  of  the  Chinese  is 
certain  then  (at  least  so  far  as  the  educated 
classes  are  concerned)  to  make  itself  felt. 

At  the  present  time  national  ideals  are  in 
a  state  of  flux  ;    the  old  have  gone,  and  no 


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New  and  Old  in  China  To-day     3 

one  knows  to-day  what  the  new  really  are. 
China's  advisers  have  a  myriad  voices  and 
few  are  in  agreement.     It  behoves  the  student 
of   Chinese   affairs   to   enquire   carefully   and 
with  humility  into  facts  and  tendencies,  and 
above   all    things   to   avoid    dogmatism,     In 
every  discussion  of  the  situation  as  it  appears 
to-day,  the  consideration  of  the  natural  force 
which  drives  the  nation  back  upon  its  past  must 
be  set  side  by  side  with  the  more  apparent  and 
aggressive  power  which  presses  the  nation  along 
the  road  of  progress  by  the  agency  of  change. 
The  worship  of  ancestors,  which  is,  as  we 
shall   see  later,   the  foundation  of  much  of  influence  of 
China's    religious    and    social    life,    exercises  worship." 
its    influence    in    a    greater    or   less    degree 
over  every  Chinese  individual.     It  will  prob- 
ably prove  the  last  of    the  moral   forces  of 
China    to    come    under    the    sway    of    the 
Christian  Gospel.     That  it  is  being  modified 
is  an  acknowledged  fact ;  the  abolition  of  the 
monarchy  necessitates    some  revision  of    the 
national  attitude  towards  it  in  that  the  wor- 
ship of  the  spirits  of  the  deceased  emperors 
was  one  of  the  acts  performed  by  the  "  Son 
of  Heaven  "  as  representing  the  dynasty  and 
the  nation.1     That  it  will  disappear  from  the 
religious    life    of    the    Chinese    is    unlikely ; 

1  cj\  p.  37. 


4        Regeneration  of  New  China 

whether  it  ought  to  disappear  is  a  moot 
point,  even  amongst  Christian  missionaries, 
who  are  far  from  unanimous  in  their  opinion 
concerning  its  interpretation.  The  hold  that 
it  has  upon  the  Chinese  mind  was  strongly 
revealed  in  the  act  of  Dr  Sun  Yat-sen,  a 
professed  Christian,  who,  as  Provisional  Presi- 
dent of  China  immediately  after  the  abdica- 
tion of  the  Manchu  dynasty,  took  part  in 
an  act  of  homage  at  the  tomb  of  the  first 
Ming  Emperor  outside  Nanking,  and  informed 
the  august  spirit  of  that  great  ruler  con- 
cerning the  overthrow  of  the  Manchu  usurper 
and  the  establishment  of  the  Republic. 

We  are  told  by  an  eye-witness  of  the  scene  f 
that  a  large  tablet  was  erected  before  the 
tomb  of  the  Emperor  Hung-wu,  and  that 
before  it  candles  were  burned  and  incense 
offered.  "  The  President  (Sun  Yat-sen)  made 
three  profound  bows  before  the  tablet.  Then 
a  secretary  read  the  President's  announcement 
to  the  spirit  of  the  great  Chinese  hero." 
The  following  are  some  extracts  from  that 
announcement,  characteristically  Chinese  in 
their  reference  and  their  hyperbole  : — 

"  Of  old  the  Sung  dynasty  became  effete. 
Liao  Tartars  and  Yuan  Mongols  seized  the 
occasion    to    throw   this    domain    of    China 

1  Dr  Lim  Boom-keng  in  Federation  Journal,  March  1912. 


New  and  Old  in  China  To-day     5 

into  confusion,  to  the  fierce  indignation  of 
spirits  and  men.  It  was  then  that  your 
Majesty,  our  founder,  arose  in  your  wrath 
from  obscurity  (Chu  Hung-wu  had  been  in 
youth  a  Buddhist  monk)  and  destroyed  those 
monsters  of  iniquity,  so  that  the  ancient  glory 
was  won  again."  Then  followed  a  description 
of  the  Manchu  despotism  and  the  rise  of  the 
revolutionary  spirit.  "  An  earthquake  shook 
the  barbarian  court  of  Peking  and  it  was 
smitten  with  paralysis.  To-day  it  has  at 
last  restored  the  government  to  the  Chinese 
people,  and  the  five  races  of  China  may  dwell 
together  in  peace  and  mutual  trust.  Let  us 
joyfully  give  thanks.  How  could  we  have 
attained  this  measure  of  victory  had  not 
your  Majesty's  soul  in  heaven  bestowed  upon 
us  your  protecting  influence  ?  " * 

The  idea  of  the  martial  influence  of  the 
founder  of  the  Ming  monarchy  guiding  to 
victory  a  host  destined  to  establish  a  republic 
is  one  somewhat  difficult  for  the  logical  mind 
of  the  West  to  appreciate.  The  point  to  be 
noted  is  that  the  Chinese  mind  did  appreciate 
it  because  the  reference  to  the  greatest  ruler 
of  the  last  purely  Chinese  dynasty  made,  as  it 
were,  the  needed  point  of  contact  with  the 
past,  and  gave   the    required    semblance    of 

1  From  The  Times,  April  3,  1912. 


6        Regeneration  of  New  China 

justification  and  approval  from  history  to  an 
unprecedented  act.  It  "  saved  the  face  "  of 
the  Republic  in  the  eyes  of  the  nation  and  of 
the  exalted  dead. 

Thus  the  leaders  of  the  Revolution  look  with 
one  consent  to  the  ancient  history  of  China 
and  the  teaching  of  the  sages  for  a  moral 
justification  (however  far-fetched  it  may  prove 
to  be)  of  the  new  form  of  government.  This 
ingrained  custom  of  the  worship  of  ancestral 
spirits  is  a  force  which  unites  the  dead  with 
the  living,  and  the  living  with  the  unborn. 
The  pressure  of  the  past  is  upon  China  in  a 
sense  which  is  scarcely  true  of  any  other  land, 
and  becomes,  therefore,  a  force  which  must 
be  reckoned  with  in  every  consideration  of  the 
future  of  the  nation. 
Resurgence       &  is  n°t?  therefore,  a  thing  to  be  wondered 

°f  tidtot:  a*  ^a^  °^  f orces  are  continually  making  their 

the  New.  way  to  the  surface  of  new  China.  It  was 
under  the  Republican  Government  that  an 
official  of  the  old  school,  on  December  14, 1912, 
in  the  Kwangsi  province,  cruelly  massacred 
thirty-nine  lepers  because  he  wished  to  relieve 
the  community  of  the  "  rejected  of  heaven." 
Such  irruptions  of  the  past  are  bound  to  be 
in  every  sphere  of  national  life,  and  even 
within  the  Church.  There  is  a  vast  and  half- 
conscious    conflict    proceeding    in    China    in 


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New  and  Old  in  China  To-day     7 

which  victory  will  alternate  between  the  old 
and  the  new.  In  the  final  conclusion,  how- 
ever, there  will  be,  not  a  conquest,  but  a 
compromise  in  which  both  old  and  new  will 
have  their  share.  The  thoroughly  revolu- 
tionized Chinese  is  to-day  a  rara  avis  indeed. 
While  political  revolution  has  been  accom- 
plished, the  task  of  real  reform  is  but  begun. 
It  is  easy,  but  profoundly  wrong,  to  mistake 
the  one  for  the  other,  despite  their  manifest 
inter- dependence. 

Nothing  astonishes  the  foreign  observer  in 
China  more  than  the  easy  way  in  which 
Western  polish  seems  to  slip  away  from  the 
foreign-educated  Chinese  when  he  resumes 
his  old  surroundings  and  associates.  Yet  in 
truth  it  is  no  matter  for  astonishment.  "  Hai 
Ya,"  a  much-travelled  Chinese  who  had 
known  luxury  in  the  West  for  many  years, 
is  reported  to  have  said,  as  he  settled  himself 
into  that  bone-racking  conveyance,  a  Peking 
cart,  on  his  return  to  his  native  city,  "After 
all,  there  is  nothing  like  a  Peking  cart  for 
comfort."  We  shall  make  a  deep  mistake 
in  our  estimate  of  progress  in  China  if  we 
judge  it  by  our  merely  Western  standards, 
and  we  shall  remain  ignorant  of  the  true 
relation  of  the  Chinese  to  essential  reformation 
if  we  fail  to  take  into  account  the  back  pull  of 


8        Regeneration  of  New  China 

history,  civilization  and  environment  in  every 
Chinese  life.  It  is  folly  to  expect  to  "  scratch 
a  Chinese  and  find  an  Anglo-Saxon." 

Already  the  failure  of  some  of  the  more 
advanced  and  iconoclastic  amongst  the  Chinese 
Christian  reformers  to  give  due  weight  to 
the  force  of  tradition  and  old  association  in 
the  national  life  has  brought  a  movement 
of  reaction  into  being.  This  appears  in  the 
matter  of  religious  toleration,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  attempt  to  "  establish  "  Con- 
fucianism, and  in  the  modification  of  modern 
educational  ideals  for  China.  It  is  only  as 
reformers  take  into  account  the  natural  and 
deep-rooted  conservative  tendencies  of  Chinese 
character  that  the  principles  of  reform  can  in 
turn  be  conserved  as  they  are  won. 
perman-  In  spite  of  all  this,  however,  one  thing 
ence  of  j^  become  very  clear  :  China  can  never  set 
£5££?B  IN  herself  again  in  a  forlorn  and  foolish  attitude 

CHINA.  ° 

of  contemptuous  isolation  from  the  advancing 
civilization  of  the  world.  She  has  been  thrust 
by  the  providence  of  God  into  the  stream  of 
human  progress,  and  can  escape  its  for- 
ward movement  only  by  a  policy  of  national 
suicide.  She  must  move,  or  be  engulfed,  and 
she  knows  it.  The  old  mental  atmosphere 
of  proud  self-sufficiency  is  dissipated  for  all 
time.     Whatsoever    things    may    perchance 

0 


New  and  Old  in  China  To-day     9 

happen  to  cause  local  risings,  brigandage, 
and  anti-foreign  boycotts,  or  riots  on  a  small 
scale,  the  Government  of  China  cannot  again 
become  identified  with  a  declared  anti-foreign 
campaign,  or  instruct  her  people  to  "  drive 
the  barbarians  into  the  sea."  For  the  sake 
of  her  own  life  as  a  nation  China  must  main- 
tain friendly  relationships  on  modern  lines 
with  the  great  nations  of  the  world,  both  East 
and  West.  To  accomplish  this  successfully  her 
leaders  must  acquire  a  wisdom  greater  than 
the  past  has  shown,  and  a  knowledge  deeper 
than  foregoing  generations  have  possessed. 
It  is  her  task  to  realize  in  practice  the  state* 
ment  of  her  great  sage  that  "  all  within  the 
four  seas  are  brethren." 

It  was  not  without  warning  that  the  disasters  stirrings  of 
which  have  attended  the  early  years  of  change  ?ef°.^m  . 

.  .      .  .        Spirit  under 

m  China  came  upon  her.  Within  the  nation  Kwang  Hsu. 
throughout  the  last  generation  the  voices  of 
the  best  of  her  own  people  called,  though  in 
vain,  to  the  Manchu  rulers  to  lead  the  way 
in  a  great  internal  reformation.  Outside  the 
nation,  interested  and  proved  friends  of  the 
people,  and  not  least  the  missionaries,  besought 
and  warned  the  rulers  concerning  the  inevit- 
able danger  of  impending  revolution,  and 
equally  in  vain.  In  a  brief  moment  of  history 
under  the  intelligent   and  humane,   but  ill- 


io      Regeneration  of  New  China 

fated,  Emperor  Kwang  Hsu,  the  principles  of 
moderate  reform  seemed  likely  to  triumph ; 
but  the  innate  conservatism  of  the  mass  of 
officialdom,  the  place- seeking  instincts  of 
some  professed  friends  of  Reform,  and  the 
ignorant  pride  of  the  Manchu  court,  headed 
by  the  Empress  Dowager  Tzu-hsi,  overthrew 
the  reformers,  and  destroyed  the  last  hope 
that  national  progress  might  be  achieved 
apart  from  bloody  revolution.  Too  much  was 
attempted  in  too  brief  a  space  of  time.  The 
sense  of  fitness  on  the  part  of  the  old  school 
was  outraged,  and  there  was  a  mistaken  ten- 
dency to  drive  rather  than  lead  the  people 
forward  into  new  lines  of  national  life.  Yet 
the  reformers  of  1897  were  the  heralds  of  the 
dawn,  and  not  a  few  of  them  who  managed 
to  escape  the  debacle  oi  1900  have  survived 
to  see  the  triumph  of  their  cause  in  1911, 
and  to  be  counted  to-day  amongst  the  "  con- 
servatives "  of  the  Republican  Government.1 

The  young  Emperor's  Reform  Decrees,2 
covering  his  pronouncements  and  decisions 
upon  education,  law,  mining,  railway-building, 
the  making  of  roads,  the  unbinding  of  feet, 
and  a  host  of  other  things,   make  a  small 

1  Notably  Liang  Chi-chao  and  Kang  Yu-wei. 

2  ' c  The   Reform   Edicts   of   the   Emperor   Kwang   Hsu " 
(North  China  Herald). 


New  and  Old  in  China  To-day     n 

book.1  They  are  a  monument  of  high  zeal  un- 
tempered  by  discretion — visionary,  prophetic, 
and  altogether  magnificent.  The  following 
passages  are  taken  from  the  last  of  these 
Reform  Decrees,  issued  on  the  27th  of  the 
7th  month,  1898  :— 

"Is  it  possible  that  I,  the  Emperor,  am  to 
be  regarded  as  a  mere  follower  after  new  and 
strange  ideas,  because  of  my  thirst  for  free- 
dom ?  My  love  for  the  people,  my  children, 
springs  from  the  feeling  that  Shang  Ti  (God) 
has  confided  them  to  me  and  that  to  my  care 
they  have  been  given  in  trust  by  my  illus- 
trious ancestors.  I  shall  never  feel  that  my 
duty  as  sovereign  is  fulfilled  until  I  have 
raised  them  all  to  a  condition  of  peaceful 
prosperity.  Moreover,  do  not  the  foreign 
powers  surround  our  Empire,  committing 
frequent  acts  of  aggression  ?  Unless  we  learn 
to  adopt  their  source  of  strength  our  plight 
cannot  be  remedied.  .  .  .  When  I  reflect 
how  deep  is  the  ignorance  of  the  masses  of 
the  dwellers  of  the  innermost  parts  of  the 
Empire  on  the  subject  of  my  proposed  reforms 
my  heart  is  filled  with  care  and  grief.  There- 
fore do  I  now  proclaim  my  intentions,  so 
that  the  whole  Empire  may  know  and  believe 

1  Cf.   China  under  the  Empress  Dowager.     Bland  &  Back- 
house. 


12      Regeneration  of  New  China 

that  their  Sovereign  is  to  be  trusted,  and  the 
people  may  co-operate  with  me  in  working 
for  reform  and  for  the  strengthening  of  our 
country." 

This  pathetically  ominous  utterance  was 
the  last  independent  word  of  the  young 
Emperor,  who  might  have  been  in  better  days, 
by  popular  consent  and  acclaim,  the  ruler 
of  a  reformed  China:  but  the  hour  had  not 
yet  struck. 
Reform  No  Imperial  mandate  or  action  on  the  part 

byeoppos£e<  of   the   Empress   Dowager   and   her   friends, 
tion.  however,  could  abolish  the  spirit  of  Reform ; 

it  was  simply  driven  underground.  Kang 
Yu-wei  and  his  colleagues  might  be  in  exile, 
or  numbered  amongst  the  martyrs  of  the 
movement ;  their  cause  remained.  Too  big  a 
fire  had  been  kindled  for  even  the  Empress 
Dowager  finally  to  quench.  Reform  began 
its  revolutionary  life  with  the  overthrow  of 
the  reformers  in  1898.  There  were  men  in 
South  China  who  had  never  been  deluded  by 
the  vain  hope  that  a  Manchu  Government 
would  prove  itself  amenable  to  a  progressive 
policy.  Quietly  and  incessantly  Sun  Yat-sen * 
and  his  followers  persisted  in  their  preparations 
for  reform  through  revolution  by  appealing 
to  the  slumbering  patriotism  of  the  Chinese 

1  Cf.  The  Passing  of  the  Dragon.     J.  C.  Keyte. 


New  and  Old  in  China  To-day     13 

people.  All  classes  of  Progressives  were  fused 
for  the  time  being  into  a  fierce  anti-Manchu 
party  by  the  blatant  conservatism  of  the 
Peking  Court.  Every  force  that  made  for 
change  became  their  ally,  until  a  majority 
of  the  educated  younger  half  of  the  nation, 
and  no  small  minority  of  its  older  people, 
stood  together  for  a  new  order  of  things.  The 
cause  of  Reform  gained  much  politically  in 
consequence,  but  it  also  suffered  heavy  moral 
loss. 

Into  the  revolutionary  ranks  there  came  all 
sorts  and  conditions  of  men ;  "  dreamers  of 
dreams  "  and  "  lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort," 
men  who  were  out  for  plunder  and  the  spoils 
of  war,  place-seekers  as  well  as  patriots/' 
The  Revolution  was  handicapped  as  a  reform 
movement  by  the  very  nature  of  the  forces 
which  it  comprised.  The  difficulties  of  the 
new  Republic  were  chiefly  those  due  to  the 
incompatibility  of  the  old  and  new  elements 
within  the  ranks  of  Reform,  the  unwillingness 
of  the  idealists  to  face  the  facts  of  the  situation, 
and  the  insistence  of  the  sheer  revolutionaries 
upon  their  share  of  the  rewards  of  successful 
revolt.  Out  of  the  victory  of  the  Revolution 
there  came  no  great  practical  leader  to  carry 
forward  a  political   reformation  along  those 

1  Cf.  The  Passing  of  the  Dragon.     J.  C.  Key te. 


14      Regeneration  of  New  China 

high  moral  levels  upon  which  the  movement 
took  its  rise.  Opportunism  took  the  place 
of  statesmanship,  and  in  the  hearts  of  many  of 
the  ablest  of  the  Reform  leaders  hope  gave 
way  to  feelings  of  despair.  When  Reform 
was  driven  underground  in  1898  it  had  to 
resort  to  methods  of  intrigue,  and  lost  much 
of  its  former  moral  character.  From  the 
consequences  of  that  moral  loss  it  has  not 
yet  recovered :  nor  has  it  learned  to  set  the 
facts  of  life  in  their  right  relationship.  For 
the  time  being,  the  constructive  side  of  the 
Reform  policy  in  China  was  submerged  in  the 
destructive  revolt  of  the  populace  against  the 
existing  order.  There  was  lacking  that  one 
clear  call  for  which  China  still  waits. 

Under  such  conditions  it  was  inevitable 
that  old  ideals  and  standards  of  value  should 
be  lost  or  suffer  decay.  Ideas  were  exploded 
which  had  held  undisputed  sway  over  Chinese 
intellect  and  life  for  centuries.  Customs  were 
reviewed  and  condemned  which  had  been 
for  ages  the  accepted  rule.  Education  and 
religion  were  so  bound  up  with  the  Monarchy 
that  to  consider  even  the  possibility  of  a  new 
order  of  government  meant  a  shaking  of 
foundations.  Men  who  could  discuss  republi- 
canism as  a  possible  method  of  government 
for  China  had  travelled  far  on  the  road  of 


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New  and  Old  in  China  To-day    15 

change,  and  had  parted  with  some  things, 
formerly  deemed  essential,  for  ever.  Modifica- 
tion of  policy  and  opinion  in  the  future  there 
might  be,  but  for  these  there  could  be  no 
return  to  the  old  attitude  and  conditions 
of  mental  and  political  life.  Nor  would  the 
policy  of  tinkering  at  reform  serve  to  mitigate 
the  demand  for  a  thorough-going  policy  of 
progress.  The  Empress  Dowager *  embarked 
in  vain  upon  a  regime  of  homoeopathic  reform, 
striving  to  cure  a  gigantic  disease  by  small 
doses  of  kindred  poison ;  and  although  she 
increased  the  dose  in  response  to  popular 
clamour,  it  proved,  to  borrow  Carlyle's  simile, 
another  example  of  endeavouring  to  stay  an 
earthquake  with  a  pill.  Mental  disruption  had 
gone  too  far.  The  wine  skins  were  very  old 
and  the  wine  was  very  new ;  the  only  remedy 
possible  was  new  wine  skins. 

The  Revolution  in  China  which  overthrew  The  Revoiu- 
the    Manchu    Government    was    much    more  MentaTand 
than  a  political  act.     Indeed  there  is  a  sense  Mora!- 
in    which    it    was   scarcely   intended    to   be 
political.     It  is  the  symbol  of  a  change  which 
is  in  impulse  essentially  mental  and  moral. 
Had  the  Manchus  who  succeeded  the  Empress 
Dowager  been  wise  in   their  day,    and  pro- 

1  Cff.   China  under  the  Empress  Dowager.     Bland  &  Back- 
house. 


1 6       Regeneration  of  New  China 

gressively  followed  her  example,  shaping  their 
course  to  the  changing  thought  of  the  age, 
had  they  developed  a  leader  from  amongst 
them  who  could  have  guided  the  new  life  into 
right  channels,  they  might  have  ridden  on 
the  storm  and  made  themselves  secure  for 
generations  to  come.  The  Chinese  people,  as 
a  whole,  did  not  seek  republicanism.  A  vast 
majority  of  them,  even  to-day,  do  not  under- 
stand it.  Their  leaders  seem  to  have  dropped 
into  it  as  the  one  obvious  alternative  to  Manchu 
rule,  rather  than  to  have  sought  it.  What  all 
wanted  was  a  better  condition  of  life,  a  better 
governed  country,  and  an  assurance  for  the 
future  of  the  race.  This  the  Manchu  could 
not  or  did  not  know  how  to  give,  at  any  rate 
with  the  requisite  speed  and  thoroughness. 
Return  to  It  follows,  then,  that  there  can  never  be 

UsmTmpos-    ^or  l°ng>  M  a*  a^>  any  return  to  the  old  and 
siMe.  stupid   obscurantism   of   China's    nineteenth- 

century  life.  The  new  outlook  makes  that 
impossible.  A  modification  of  over-zealous  re- 
forming enthusiasm  there  may  be  aud  is,  but 
there  will  be  no  more  plucking  up  of  railways 
in  the  name  of  the  disturbed  spirits  of  the 
dead ;  no  more  official  refusals  to  open  mines 
lest  the  earth  dragon  should  be  disturbed ; 
no  more  official  opposition  to  the  erection  of 
mill  chimneys  lest  the  demoniac  influence  of 


New  and  Old  in  China  To-day    17 

the  air  should  be  offended  and  destroy  the 
populace.  Nor  will  Western  books  be  burned 
and  their  users  boycotted,  schools  and  churches 
destroyed,  and  converts  massacred  because  of 
their  Western  connections.  Other  difficulties 
will  doubtless  arise  to  take  the  place  of  those 
gone  by,  bat  the  old  spirit  is  a  thing  of  the  past. 
Between  the  youth  of  China  to-day  and  his 
grandparents  there  lies  an  intellectual  gulf 
as  wide  as  that  which  divides  the  twentieth 
century  from  the  sixteenth  in  Europe,  and 
the  problem  of  China  in  the  immediate  future 
is  very  largely  the  problem  of  that  youth. 
To  him  Taoism  is  but  a  medley  of  superstitions, 
fit  only  for  clowns  and  ignorant  old  women  • 
of  the  finer  shades  of  Buddhism  he  has  no 
appreciation,  and  he  condemns  in  good  set 
terms  its  idolatry ;  whilst  of  Confucianism  he 
has  more  than  a  trembling  and  fearful  sus- 
picion that  it  has  been  one  of  the  con- 
tributing causes  of  China's  retrogression. 

With  a  view  to  the  clearer  understanding  the 
of  the  task  which  awaits  Christianity  in  China,  of°the  M 
and  which  is  to-day  before  China  herself,  it  $outhSE 
is    worth   while   to   pay   more   than   passing 
attention  to  the  representative  Chinese  youth.1 

1  It  must  be  remembered  that  change  has  been  most  rapid 
and  most  marked  in  the  coastal  provinces  and  along  the 
great  rivers. 


1 8       Regeneration  of  New  China 

His  world  is  everywhere  telling  the  story  of 
change.     His  whole   environment  reveals  it, 
He  will  remember  the  time,  not  so  long  ago. 
His  changed  when  his  queue  was  a  matter  of  daily  diffi- 
ment.  culty,  and  when  its  condition  reflected  alike 

his  own  habits  and  the  social  position  of  his 
family.  That  queue  is  with  him  no  longer, 
nor  does  his  father  pay  a  daily  visit  to  the 
barber.  He,  too,  is  so  far  in  the  ranks  of 
the  moderns.  His  mother's  feet  are  bound. 
She  had  in  days  gone  by  a  certain  hard 
I  ride  in  the  smallness  of  her  "  lily  "  feet,  and 
our  youth  remembers  that  an  attempt  was 
made  to  bind  his  elder  sister's  feet.  The 
attempt  was  given  up,  and,  though  slightly 
crippled,  she  walks  with  feet  unbound. 
Younger  sister's  were  never  bound.  The 
status  and  treatment  of  the  girls  of  the  family 
have  changed  considerably  from  that  laid  down 
for  the  guidance  of  Chinese  in  the  Book  of 
Rites.1  Our  youth  is,  moreover,  betrothed. 
His  betrothal  ceremony  was  celebrated  when 
he  was  twelve  years  of  age,  before  the  new 
leaven  had  entered  the  family  life,  and  that 
betrothal  is  causing  him  no  little  vexation 
and  his  parents  some  anxiety.  He  is  striv- 
ing to  summon  sufficient  courage  to  take 
the  fearsome  step  of  breaking  the  betrothal, 

1  Cf.  Gilbert  Walshe,  Ways  that  are  Dark, 


»»  * 


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A  RECONSTRUCTED  PORTRAIT  OF  CONFUCIUS 

By  permission  of  The  Chinese  Recorder 


New  and  Old  in  China  To-day    19 

to  which  he  was  not  a  consenting  party,  in 
favour  of  one  in  which  he  shall  have  a  word 
to  say.  At  this  point  he  knows  that  he  will 
part  company  altogether  with  the  older  genera- 
tion, and  this  he  scarcely  dares,  and  certainly 
does  not  desire,  to  do  outright.  The  gulf 
is  widening  betwixt  him  and  his  parents, 
and  each  is  conscious  of  the  fact ;  yet  the 
family  bond  still  holds  and  will  be  one  of  the 
last  things  to  break,  for  filial  piety  is  one  of 
the  forces  that  count  when  many  others  have 
gone. 

A  few  shelves  of  books  are  a  cherished 
possession  of  our  semi  -  Western  -  educated 
youth.  The  old  love  of  literature  is  in  his 
bones,  and  will  be  part  of  the  life  fibre  of 
his  children's  children.  He  has  the  Chinese 
classics ;  these  he  treasures,  although  he 
knows  them  less  well  than  his  father,  who 
knows  of  literature  little  else.  Side  by  side 
with  them  there  are  some  modern  essays 
by  Chang  Chih-tung,  Kang  Yu-wei,  Liang 
Chi-chao  and  others,  and  not  a  few  translations 
of  Western  books  such  as  Mill  on  "  Liberty  "  ; 
Mazzini's  "  Duties  of  Man " ;  Carlyle's 
"  French  Revolution  "  ;  Mackenzie's  "  History 
of  the  Nineteenth  Century  " ;  possibly  some 
Darwin,  Hseckel,  and  Spencer  (hashed  up 
by  Japanese  and  translated),  and  a  number  of 

B 


20      Regeneration  of  New  China 

Chinese  biographies  of  Western  statesmen  and 
men  of  action.    Here  we  find  lives  of  Washing- 
ton, Napoleon  and  Cromwell,  Luther,  Pitt,  and 
others.     On  another  shelf  the  English  books 
stand ;    the  school  text-books,  the  Encyclo- 
paedia  and    Anglo-Chinese    Dictionary,   pub- 
lished   by    the    Chinese    Commercial    Press, 
an  English  Bible,  and  a  number  of  shilling 
editions  of  English  classics.     Upon  these  and 
upon  the  conversation  of  his  associates  in  the 
club,  the  Y.M.C.A.,  the  Church,  the  School, 
or  the  Tea  House,  and  upon  the  newspaper — 
moderate  or  revolutionary — to  which  he  may 
be  partial,  he  feeds  his  fast  developing  mind. 
Such  are  the  influences  that  shape  and  guide 
his  mental  and  moral  life.     Being  by  nature, 
when  under  right  discipline,  a  keen  student 
with  a  phenomenally  tenacious  memory,  and 
a  remarkable  appreciation  of  the  things  of 
practical   value   in   education,  as    a  student 
both  of  books  and  of  life  he  is  in  the  world's 
front  rank. 

On  the  external  side  also  things  have  changed 
not  a  little,  A  few  years  ago  our  typical 
youth  cast  away  his  Chinese  garments,  as  a 
man  puts  away  childish  things,  and  he  begins 
now  to  take  a  pride  in  the  cut  of  his  foreign 
clothes,  the  lustre  of  his  foreign  linen,  and  the 
colour  of  his  ties.    His  grandfather  deemed 


New  and  Old  in  China  To-day     21 

a  moustache  unseemly  in  a  man  under  fifty 

years  of  age ;   our  friend  is  striving  gallantly 

to  attain  to  one,  and  he  is  barely  twenty. 

The  foreign  cigarette,  made  in  Shanghai  or 

Japan,  has  given  him  a  distaste  for  the  water 

pipe  and  the  innocuous  Chinese  tobacco  which 

his  father  enjoys.    The  city  in  which  he  lives 

had  known  no  serious  change  for  a  thousand 

years.     As  things  had  been,  they  remained. 

The  Manchus  brought  a  few  changes  of  little 

moment ;  otherwise  generation  had  succeeded 

generation  in  an  unbroken  monotony  of  life 

and   circumstance.     Last   year    in   this    city 

an  electric  lighting  plant  was  installed,  and 

there  is  now  no  longer  the  old  difficulty  of 

picking   one's   steps   through   the   streets   at 

night  with  a  hand-lantern ;    that  is  the  lot 

of  his  unfortunate  country  cousin  in  town  and 

village,  where  the  blessed  word  of  material 

progress  has  not  yet  been  sounded.     In  the 

streets  are  shops  filled  with  foreign  goods — 

watches,   pocket   handkerchiefs,  clothes,  and 

knick-knacks  unknown  in  Chinese  cities  not 

so   many    years  ago.      There   is    even    talk 

of  pulling  down  the  walls  to  make  a  public 

boulevard.    Does  he  not  ride  a  bicycle,  wash 

with  scented  soap,  use  a  patent  safety  razor, 

play  base-ball,  tennis,  and  "  soccer  "  football, 

and  train  for  sports  meetings  in  connection 


22      Regeneration  of  New  China 

with  the  local  Government  and  Mission  schools, 
or  the  Chinese  Y.M.C.A.  ? 

Let  it  not  be  concluded,  however,  that  our 
youth  is  bent  upon  religious  development  or 
convinced  of  the  truth  of  Christian  teaching 
because  he  is  in  touch  with  Christian  move- 
ments. He  has  been  duly  impressed  by  the 
practical  attainments  of  the  Christian  mission- 
ary teachers  he  has  met,  and  he  is  quite  con- 
vinced of  the  disinterested  zeal  for  the  welfare 
of  China  which  Christianity  has  displayed. 
Among  his  friends  there  are  some  whose  whole 
outlook  is  coloured  by  Christian  ideals,  and 
whose  exemplary  conduct  compels  attention. 
He  is  sure  there  is  something  in  Christianity 
as  a  character-forming  force  which  is  worth 
attention,  and  it  is  the  one  outstanding  factor 
in  Chinese  life  whereby  the  gulf  between 
East  and  West  is  bridged.  Intellectually 
he  is  convinced  of  the  superior  nature  of  the 
Christian  message  and  the  value  of  its  ideals 
for  industrial  and  national  life,  and  to  that 
extent  he  is  ready  to  come  under  its  helpful 
influence.  The  Y.M.C.A.,  in  particular,  offers 
him  a  scope  for  intellectual,  moral  and  physical, 
as  well  as  religious,  activity  that  no  other 
organization  approaches,  and  to  this  he  re- 
sponds with  all  the  eagerness  of  a  discoverer. 

It  is  a  new  world  into  which  his  genera- 


New  and  Old  in  China  To-day    23 

tion  has  emerged.  The  very  old  shake  their 
heads  at  the  exceeding  folly  of  youth,  and 
prognosticate  an  evil  which  events  seem 
about  to  be  justifying,  while  middle  age  puts 
up  with  the  awkwardness  of  change,  tak- 
ing some  pride  in  the  successes  of  its  own 
youngsters.  But  youth  is  sincerely,  thought- 
lessly and  extravagantly  in  love  with  change, 
and  at  the  same  time  held  by  no  sure 
convictions. 

One  essential  change,  however,  has  not  yet  His  un- 
taken  place  in  the  ideals  which  our  youth  Ambitions. 
holds  before  his  mind.  An  official  post,  in 
some  form  or  another,  is  the  lodestar  of  his 
life,  as  it  has  been  that  of  the  countless 
educated  generations  before  him.  Therein 
he  desires  to  serve  his  own  country,  it  is  true — 
and  let  it  be  counted  to  him  for  righteousness 
— but  the  hope  of  gain  is  there  also,  and  illicit 
gain  at  that.  He  is  for  the  reform  of  the 
Civil  Service,  but,  unreformed,  it  successfully 
dangles  its  prizes  before  his  desiring  eyes. 
In  his  dreams  he  grows  wealthy  and  fat  as 
he  climbs  the  ladder  of  fame,  and  in  his  moral 
outlook  upon  worldly  success  it  is  to  be  feared 
that,  in  general,  new  official  is  but  old 
peculator  writ  large.  Of  the  moral  changes 
that  are  indispensable  to  good  government 
and  clean  public  life  in  China  he  is  practically 


24      Regeneration  of  New  China 

unconvinced.  Bribery  and  corruption  are 
in  theory,  and  according  to  the  books,  the 
enemies  of  righteousness ;  that  he  knows. 
In  the  world  of  fact,  however,  it  is  by  these 
that  men  live,  and — in  the  end — the  path 
of  moral  revolution  is  infinitely  harder  than 
its  political  counterpart ;  therefore,  the  wise 
man  will  learn  to  accommodate  his  zeal  to 
the  exigencies  of  his  pocket.  For  the  present 
our  aspiring  youth  will  content  himself  by 
rendering  to  the  cause  of  public  and  official 
incorruption  a  worthy  and  enthusiastic  lip 
service.  No  disappointment  has  been  so 
keenly  felt  by  the  disinterested  friends  of 
Reform  in  China  as  the  failure  of  Young  China 
to  deal  with  the  open  sore  of  official  peculation. 
A  writer  in  one  of  the  leading  Chinese  news- 
papers, the  Min-li-pao,  thus  addressed  himself 
to  his  fellow-reformers  in  November  1912 x  : 
"  When  I  returned  to  my  country  last  year 
I  purposed  establishing  an  ethical,  not  a 
religious,  society,  but  soon  found  it  im- 
possible to  do  so.  Before  the  Revolution  I 
imagined  that  you  were  all  public-spirited. 
I  have  been  deceived.  All  you  who  are 
revolutionists  have  your  thoughts  turned 
to  honour  and  wealth."  Here  are  found 
the   feet   of    clay.    Here,   too,   lie   the   peril 

1  Cf.  Chinese  Recorder,  December  1912. 


New  and  Old  in  China  To-day    25 

and    the   problem :    "  Who   shall    command 
the  heart  ?  " 

The  real  and  abiding  difficulties  of  China 
are  not,  therefore,  those  political  and  financial 
crises  through  which  she  is  now  passing ; 
these  are  of  small  moment  in  comparison 
with  the  intensely  human  problems  of  which 
political  upheaval  is  but  the  external  sign. 
Questions  of  modes  of  government  (Republic, 
Limited  Monarchy,  Dictatorship,  Parliament- 
ary representation,  Local  Self-government,  the 
Autonomy  of  the  Provinces),  foreign  loans, 
the  foreign  supervision  of  sources  of  revenue, 
and  the  like,  all  serve  to  hide  from  the  eyes  of 
men  the  real  task  and  the  vital  question  which 
China  presents.  It  is  so  easy  to  look  upon 
the  outward  appearance  and  therefrom  to 
form  false  judgments.  If  the  young  educated 
men  of  China  as  a  class  are  made  neither 
worthy  nor  fit  for  the  responsibility  that  His  Call  to 
confronts  them,  disaster  must  await  the  ea  ers  ip* 
nation ;  for  it  is  leaders  that  China  seeks. 
All  who  have  to  do  with  the  Chinese  coolie, 
even  those  who  know  best  his  many  weaknesses, 
vices  and  failings,  respect  the  human  material 
he  reveals  to  those  who  are  just  in  their 
dealings  with  him  and  prove  themselves  his 
friends.  The  heart  of  her  people,  the  founda- 
tion   material    of    a    nation,   is    wonderfully 


26      Regeneration  of  New  China 


A  Personal 
and  Re- 
ligious 
Problem. 


sound.  Ages  of  misgovern  ment,  periodic 
famines,  life  lived  continuously  on  the  border 
line  of  want,  an  entire  absence  of  home  com- 
fort, repeated  rebellions  with  their  consequent 
devastations,  gross  superstition,  an  utter 
ignorance  of  hygienic  laws,  have  all  failed  to 
destroy  the  steady,  persistent  dependableness 
of  the  working  classes  of  China.  These, 
however,  have  always  looked,  and  will  still 
continue  to  look,  to  the  cultured  of  the 
nation,  some  of  whom  are  always  rising  from 
the  ranks  of  labour,  for  guidance  and  for 
government.1 

Can  young  China  be  taught  to  lead  China 
aright  ?  That  is  the  question,  not  merely  of 
the  hour,  but  of  the  distant  future  ;  not  only 
for  China  or  for  the  Church,  but  for  the  world 
of  coming  days.  Who  shall  make  the  middle 
pathway  between  the  revolutionary  extrava- 
gance of  the  newly-formed  China  Socialist 
Party,  with  its  programme  of  free  money, 
free  love,  and  freedom  from  law,  and  the  bad 
old  reactionary  policy  of  ignorance,  pride  and 
peculation  ?  Is  there  in  Christianity  the 
genius  which  can  lay  hold  of  that  innate 
conservatism  which  is  the  essential  heritage 
of  the  Chinese  mind,  and  which  can  also  guide 
and  restrain  the  ebullient  forces  of  reckless 


1  CJ.  Chapter  IV 


New  and  Old  in  China  To-day    27 

revolution  that  have  for  the  time  being 
possessed  so  many  of  her  people,  and  fuse 
these  elements  into  a  mighty  power  making 
for  that  righteousness  which  is  at  once  China's 
historic  ideal  and  her  outstanding  present 
need  ?  Out  of  the  inheritance  of  the  past, 
first  in  the  individual  and  then  in  the  nation, 
that  which  is  base  and  vicious  has  to  be 
divided  from  that  which  is  good  and  useful, 
and  the  reckless  selfishness  of  untrammelled 
ambition  now  so  evident  has  to  be  separated 
from  the  high  and  noble  zeal  for  a  new  earth 
wherein  dwells  righteousness  which  is  arising  in 
many  Chinese  hearts.  The  whole  problem  is  in 
the  end  religious,  and  one  to  the  solution  of 
which  the  contribution  of  the  Gospel,  as  the 
one  message  of  salvation  to  men,  is  vital. 

Surely  Christianity  has  that  needed  genius, 
and,  in  so  far  as  China  to-day  possesses  any 
hope  of  attaining  to  that  ideal,  or  is  show- 
ing signs  of  grasping  it,  it  is  given  to  her 
only  in  the  person  and  message  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  in  the  service  rendered  to  the  nation  by 
His  disciples  and  His  Church. 

Supplementary  Reading 

The  author  has  assumed  in  his  readers  familiarity  with 
such  facts  about  China  as  are  contained  in  The  Uplift 
of  China  (new  and  revised  edition,  1914),  by  Dr  Arthur 

B* 


28      Regeneration  of  New  China 

H.  Smith.  As  a  general  book  of  reference  Things 
Chinese,  by  J.  Dyer  Ball,  is  invaluable  :  the  articles 
are  arranged  alphabetically,  after  the  fashion  of  an 
encyclopaedia. 

For  a  description  of  the  Chinese  temperament,  Dr 
Arthur  Smith's  Chinese  Characteristics  retains  its  pre- 
eminence. Chaps.  IX.,  XIV.,  and  XXVII.  are  particu- 
larly valuable  in  view  of  the  above  chapter. 

Changing  China,  by  the  Rev.  Lord  William  Gascoyne 
Cecil,  is  an  excellent,  if  impressionist,  sketch  of  a  current 
phase.  Part  I.,  "  China  in  Transition,"  bears  upon  our 
subject  here.  The  Changing  Chinese,  by  Prof.  E.  A. 
Ross,  deals  with  the  same  topic  from  the  point  of  view 
of  a  professor  of  sociology.  See  especially  Chaps.  II., 
III.,  and  IV.  Of  Prof.  Giles'  Civilisation  of  China, 
Chaps.  I.  (concerning  Feudal  China),  VI.,  and  X.  to  XII. 
(touching  upon  the  modern  outlook)  should  be  read. 

A  very  illuminating  study  of  recent  events  in  China 
from  the  Christian  point  of  view  is  The  Emergency  in 
China,  byDr  Hawks  Pott.  The  chapters  (II.,  III.,  and 
IV.)  on  "  Results  of  the  Recent  Revolution/'  "  Industrial 
and  Commercial  Development,"  and  "  Social  Trans 
formation  "  are  specially  relevant  here. 


CHAPTER  II 

RELIGION  AND  THE  CHARACTER 
OF  THE  RACE 

The  conception  of  the  Chinese  as  a  race 
altogether  materialistic  in  outlook,  having 
both  eyes  wholly  fixed  upon  the  main  chance, 
is  one  which  will  not  bear  the  test  of  close 
examination,   and   can   scarcely  be   held  by  religious 

ii  •     .        •  v    -l  i       i.  NATURE 

any  who  have  come  into  immediate  contact  of  the 
with  the  daily  life  of  the  people,  or  who CHINESE- 
know  their  history.  Passages  from  the  Con- 
fucian classics  have,  without  doubt,  given  an 
agnostic  tendency  to  the  intellectual  life  of 
the  Confucian  scholars  ;  but  as  even  these 
latter  are  to  be  found  participating,  in  one 
way  or  another,  in  many  religious  acts  that 
reveal  a  belief  in  the  supernatural  and  the 
life  of  the  soul  after  death,  too  much  stress 
ought  not  to  be  placed  on  such  passages. 
The  daily  life  of  the  Chinese  produces  sufficient 
evidence  of  religious  beliefs.  The  altars  and 
ancestral  tablets,  the  lares  et  penates  of  even 
•  the  humblest  householder  or  shopkeeper, 
the    charms    to    avert    evil,    and    the    lucky 

29 


30      Regeneration  of  New  China 

"  characters  "  found  over  almost  every  door- 
way, the  images  in  banks,  warehouses  and 
other  centres  of  business  activity,  the  myriads 
of  temples  and  the  hordes  of  priests,  all  testify 
to  the  strong  hold  of  religious  ideas  upon 
the  Chinese  mind.  "  I  perceive,"  the  obser- 
vant student  of  the  actualities  of  Chinese  life 
might  say,  "  that  in  all  things  you  are  very 
religious." 
Theories  of  From  its  very  beginning  the  history  of 
ofChinlse  China  has  recorded  the  religious  ideals, 
Religions,  scruples  and  observances  of  rulers  and  people. 
Whatsoever  theory  of  the  origin  of  religion 
in  China  students  of  the  subject  may  hold, 
they  at  least  agree  concerning  the  proof 
afforded  of  the  interweaving  of  religious  ideas 
and  observances  with  the  earliest  known 
life  of  the  race.  And  this  knowledge  covers 
at  least  four  thousand  years.  Concerning  the 
origins  of  religion  within  the  Chinese  nation, 
authorities  are  very  much  at  variance.  On 
the  one  hand,  Dr  John  Ross,1  following  Dr 
James  Legge,2  affirms  that  a  modified  Theism 
appears  at  the  very  dawn  of  Chinese  history, 
and  that  all  available  evidence  points  to  a 
high  stage  of  religious  knowledge  at  the 
beginning   of   national   life.     "It   is   obvious 

1  The  Original  Religion  of  China. 

2  Religions  of  China. 


Religion  and  Character  of  Race    31 

that  the  belief  in  the  existence  of  one  Supreme 
Ruler  is  among  the  earliest  beliefs  of  the 
Chinese  known  to  us.  Of  an  earlier  stage, 
when  no  such  belief  existed,  or  when  the 
belief  in  Polytheism  did  exist,  we  find  no 
trace.  Nowhere  is  there  a  hint  to  confirm 
the  materialistic  theory  that  the  idea  of  God 
is  the  evolutionary  product  of  a  precedent 
belief  in  ghosts  or  departed  ancestors,  or  that 
the  belief  had  arisen  indirectly  from  any 
other  source."  x 

At  the  other  extreme  stands  the  well-known 
scholar,  Dr  De  Groot,  whose  studies  of  Chinese 
folk-lore  and  superstition  are  among  the  most 
thorough  and  illuminating  of  recent  researches 
into  the  popular  religion  of  the  Chinese. 
His  point  of  view  is  that  Universism  has 
always  been  what  he  maintains  that  it  is 
to-day,  the  one  religion  of  China  upon  which 
the  three  religions  of  the  land  have  been 
grafted.  Universism  may  be  defined  as  the 
theory  which  looks  upon  the  Universe  and 
all  created  things  as  animate.  Under  it  man 
is  subject  to  influences  emanating  from 
"  things."  The  spirit  of  life  is  ascribed  to  all, 
manifesting  itself  in  the  seasons,  the  weather, 
hills,  trees,  the  earth,  rivers,  all  of  which  are 
supposed  to  exert  their  sway  over  the  life  and 

1  Dr  John  Ross. 


32       Regeneration  of  New  China 


Belief  in  a 
Supreme 
Being  and 
in  Inter- 
mediary 
Spirits. 


destiny  of  mankind.  This  theory,  says  De 
Groot,  is  common  ground  to  the  three  religions 
of  China  and  makes  them,  in  effect,  one. 
"  Universism  is,  of  course,  much  older  than 
the  classical  writings,  by  means  of  which  it 
has  been  preserved.  As  is  the  case  with  many 
origins,  that  of  China's  Universism  is  lost  in 
the  darkness  of  antiquity." 

The  first  school  of  enquirers  rest  themselves 
on  the  ancient  books  of  China  and  the  accepted 
legends  of  earliest  days  ;  the  second  group 
strive  to  get  behind  the  legends  and  the 
books,  and  to  formulate  a  theory  in  accordance 
with  the  principles  of  evolutionary  thought. 

Each  school  finds  its  material  in  the  Chinese 
classics.  The  suggestion  of  Universism,  as 
well  as  of  Theism,  is  there.  "  If  we  penetrate 
as  far  as  we  can  into  Chinese  antiquity  we 
find  the  earliest  rulers  attempting  to  conciliate, 
by  sacrifice  or  by  offerings  of  foods,  the  spirits 
of  the  mountains  and  rivers."  x  Side  by  side 
with  this  there  certainly  also  existed  a  belief 
in  a  Supreme  Power,  ruling  over  all  men  and 
things,  an  omnipresent  Deity,  called  by  a 
sacred  name,  "  Shang  Ti,"  whose  vicegerent 
on  earth  was  the  Emperor  of  the  nation,  the 
Son  of  Heaven.  The  very  earliest  record 
of  a  religious  act  found  in  Chinese  history 

1  China  and  Religion.     E.  H.  Parker. 


Religion  and  Character  of  Race    33 

refers  to  the  great  "  Shun,"  of  whom  it  is  said 
"  he  sacrificed  specially,  but  with  the  ordinary 
forms,  to  the  Supreme  Being ;  sacrificed 
with  reverent  purity  to  the  six  Honoured 
Ones ;  offered  appropriate  sacrifices  to  the 
hills  and  the  rivers  ;  and  extended  his  wor- 
ship to  the  host  of  spirits."  Further  light 
upon  the  religious  practice  and  conception 
of  State  Confucianism  is  given  in  the  act 
recorded  by  the  Emperor  of  the  Ming  Dynasty, 
who  ruled  in  1538,  on  the  occasion  of  making 
an  alteration  in  the  wording  of  the  ceremony 
used  in  the  sacrifice  offered  at  the  solstice 
by  the  "  Son  of  Heaven  '  on  behalf  of  the 
people.  He  thus  addressed  the  spirits  con- 
cerned :  "  Beforehand  we  inform  you,  all 
ye  celestial  and  terrestrial  spirits,  and  will 
trouble  you,  on  our  behalf,  to  exert  your 
spiritual  influences  and  display  your  vigorous 
efficacy,  communicating  our  poor  desire  to 
the  Supreme  Being  (God)  and  praying  Him 
mercifully  to  grant  us  His  acceptance  and 
regard,  and  to  be  pleased  with  the  title  we 
shall  reverently  present  (to  Him)."  Here  is 
the  conception  of  intermediary  spirits  through 
whom  man  reaches  the  Most  High. 

The  point  to  bear  in  mind  in  all  this  is 
the  significant  fact  that  a  strongly  marked 
religious  life  has  been  one  of  the  outstanding 


34      Regeneration  of  TSfew  China 

characteristics  of  the  Chinese  throughout  their 
racial  history,  whether  we  are  considering 
the  scholar  or  the  man  in  the  street.  It  is 
there  when  we  first  meet  them  in  their  ancient 
records,  and  it  has  persisted  in  various  forms, 
degenerate  or  progressive,  though  chiefly  de- 
generate, right  down  to  the  present  generation. 
In  one  shape  or  another  it  is  a  determining 
factor  in  the  national  character  of  the  Chinese 
people  in  our  own  time. 

The  religious  life  that  a  Chinese  to-day 
inherits,  therefore,  is  much  more  than  "  natural 
religion  "  modified  by  the  material  and  some- 
what agnostic  trend  of  practical  Confucianism. 
Confucianism  has,  indeed,  been  the  medium 
Religious  in  which  the  most  exalted  of  all  the  religious 
immobility.    concepts    Gf    the    Chinese    mind    have    been 

preserved.  In  all  lands  the  tendencies  of  the 
soul  are  in  very  large  measure  a  heritage  from 
the  past,  and  an  unseen,  intangible,  but  real 
bias  of  spirit  pertains  to  all  members  of  civil- 
ized races.  We  may  therefore  fairly  expect 
to  find  in  the  case  of  peoples  with  the  weight  of 
multitudinous  generations  pressing  upon  them 
from  behind  an  immobility  of  spirit  expressed 
in  religious  prejudice  to  a  marked  degree.  We 
find  it  so  in  China,  with  the  added  force  of 
anti-foreign  feeling.  It  is  an  illustration  of  the 
old  adage  that  it  is  an  easier  matter  to  convert 


a, 

S 
w 

h 

H 
►■* 

Q 

Q 

D 
S3 


s 

o 
as 

fa. 


I    • 


Religion  and  Character  of  Race    35 

the  untutored  man  than  to  reach  the  civilized. 
"  The  common  people  heard  Him  gladly." 
Pride  of  race  has  its  spiritual  as  well  as  its 
intellectual  bearings.  Little  wonder,  then, 
that  it  has  taken  a  century  to  break  down 
some  of  the  outstanding  barriers  of  the  soul 
in  China.  That  soul  was  shaped  in  a  mould 
as  stiff  as  the  years  which  went  to  its  making 
were  many. 

Yet  the  spiritual  tendencies  of  Chinese  life  the 

"THREE 

were  not  altogether  intolerant,  though  rigid,  religions 
Confucianism  has  been  in  general  content  to  0F  CHINA- 
"  live  and  let  live  "  so  long  as  its  special  political 
prerogatives  were  not  threatened  and  its  cere- 
monial was  observed.    Taoism,  Confucianism  Mutual 
and  Buddhism  have  lived  together  in  moderate  0f  Chinese 
comfort,  though  persecutions  have  not  been  Rell&lons- 
so   infrequent   or   so   light   as   many   deem,1 
just  because  Taoism  and  Confucianism   are 
apt  at  compromise,  and  because  Buddhism 
in  China  has  hauled  down  the  flag  and  per- 
mitted the  incorporation  of  the  other  systems 
into  itself.    So  we  see  over  the  land  "  Halls 
of  the  Three  Religions,"  in  which  Confucius 
and  the  "  Four  Companions,"  2  the  gods  of 

1  Cf.  De  Groot,  Religious  Persecution  in  China. 

2  These  are  the  philosopher  Yen,  the  continuer  ;  the  phil- 
osopher Tseng,  the  exhibitor ;  the  philosopher  Tsze,  the 
transmitter  (grandson  of  the  sage)  ;  and  the  philosopher 
Meng  (Mencius),  the  seconder. 


36      Regeneration  of  New  China 

Taoism,  and  the  trinity  of  Buddhas  are 
indiscriminately  and  collectively  worshipped. 
If  Christianity  had  also  been  marked  by 
this  compromising  spirit  of  inclusiveness  it 
might  have  won  its  place,  side  by  side  with 
the  rest,  long  ago.  We  might  then  have  seen 
"  Halls  of  the  Four  Religions."  The  exclusive 
rigidity  of  the  Christian  claim,  its  refusal  to 
be  incorporated  as  well  as  to  incorporate, 
has  been  one  of  its  difficulties  to  the  Chinese 
mind  all  through  the  history  of  the  Christian 
enterprise  in  China. 
Character-  Taking  the  three  religions  of  China  as  they 
fucian^sm  °n  stand  in  the  order  of  importance  we  may 
state  their  claims  in  general  thus — Confucian- 
ism represents  the  very  spirit  of  China  as 
the  Chinese  themselves  would  like  to  have 
it  portrayed.  It  comprises  in  its  code  and  in 
its  classics  the  customs  and  the  teachings  of 
the  best  of  ancient  China.  Confucius  him- 
self claimed  to  be  no  teacher  of  new  things, 
but  a  transmitter  of  the  gloriously  old.  It  has 
always  been  recognized  as  the  ruling  religious 
force,  the  power  behind  the  throne,  the  ex- 
ponent of  the  moral  and  social  system  by  which 
the  nation  has  been  kept  together  in  order 
and  propriety.  Behind  it,  in  turn,  lie  the 
worship  of  "  Heaven,"  the  regular  worship 
of  the   Supreme  Being   by  the   Emperor  as 


Religion  and  Character  of  Race    37 

the  "Son  of  Heaven,"1  the  worship  of  the 
ancestral  spirits,  the  teaching  of  filial  piety, 
and  the  recognition  of  the  powers  of  the 
spirits  of  Nature,  of  the  hills  and  the 
rivers.  It  has  incorporated  the  worship  of 
national  heroes,  whom  it  has  deified — sages, 
statesmen,  warriors  and  emperors ;  and  of 
all  these  Confucius  is  to-day  the  head,  "  one 
of  a  trinity  with  Heaven  and  Earth."  The 
acceptance  of  the  Confucian  system  and  the 
worship  of  the  Sage  has  been  enforced,  if 
needs  be  by  persecution,  upon  all  those 
who  came  under  the  notice  or  sway  of  the 
State.  Confucianism  is  the  most  deeply 
ingrained  of  the  three  systems  of  religion 
acknowledged  by  the  Chinese  as  national. 
It  has  become  an  integral  part  of  the  national 
life. 

Taoism,  the  second  indigenous  religion,  character- 
although  antedating  Confucianism,  as  a^a^sm. 
system  makes  little  or  no  historic  appeal 
to  the  Chinese  mind.  Tao  is  variously  trans- 
lated "  reason,"  "  doctrine,"  "  nature,"  "  the 
way,"  or  even  "  logos." 2  The  philosophy  of 
the  system  is  enshrined  in  the  Tao-teh-king — 
the  classic  of  reason  and  virtue — and  beyond 

1  Now  undertaken  by  the  President,  as  ruler. 

2  The    Greek    term,    translated    ' '  Word "   in    the   Gospel 
according  to  S.  John,  chap,  i, 


3&      Regeneration  of  New  China 

its  moral  precepts  no  Taoist  teaching  has  ever 
gone.  Its  apprehension  of  spiritual  life,  orig- 
inally almost  transcendental,  soon  became 
materialistic,  and  its  conception  of  the  needs 
of  the  soul  after  death  those  of  the  body  during 
life.  Teaching  that  every  form  of  matter  has 
soul  life,  it  has  adopted  "  gods  "  of  everything 
— the  Planets,  the  Elements,  Rain,  Thunder, 
Fire,  and  so  on,  until  it  has  found  and  even 
produced  pictures  of  gods  of  malaria  and 
dysentery,  not  hesitating  to  come  down  to  the 
gambler's  dice.  The  household  gods  of  the 
door  and  the  kitchen  are  Taoist  deities.  All 
these  are  to  be  propitiated  and  provided  for  as 
those  who  love  the  good  things  of  life.  The 
great  search  of  the  Taoist  devotees  of  old  was 
for  the  "  pill  of  immortality  "  and  the  "  water 
of  life."  Out  of  this  search  sprang  the 
Alchemy  of  China  and,  incidentally,  most  of 
the  early  knowledge  of  chemistry  acquired 
by  the  Chinese.  The  Taoist  system  has,  in 
the  popular  mind,  secured  influence  over  the 
powers  of  the  universe,  and  to  it  has  therefore 
been  committed  the  duty  of  freeing  people 
and  places  from  the  influences  of  evil  spirits, 
and  protection  from  the  malignities  of  the 
demoniac  world.  Sheer  superstition  is  now 
the  domain  of  Taoism.  The  fact  is  the  more 
melancholy  inasmuch  as  the  author  had  un- 


Religion  and  Character  of  Race    39 

doubtedly  a  noble,  if  too  abstruse,  conception, 
and  high,  if  too  ill-defined,  ideals. 

Buddhism,  which  dates  its  spread  in  China  Character- 
from  the  first  century,  though  it  arose  in  Buddhism 
India  six  centuries  before,  has  a  very  per- 
vasive influence  in  Chinese  life.  As  a  religious 
system  it  has  lost  in  its  Chinese  form  much 
of  its  original  teaching.  It  is  not  entirely 
atheistic,  nor  has  it  maintained  the  teaching 
of  Nirvana  and  the  renunciation  of  the  world. 
"  Whilst  the  Buddhist  philosopher  ... 
correctly  unfolded  Buddhism  as  a  system  of 
cold  atheism  and  barren  nihilism,  the  common 
people  of  all  Buddhistic  countries  instinctively 
drifted  into  a  form  of  worship  essentially 
polytheistic." x  Buddhist  gods  were  intro- 
duced, Sakyamuni,  Amidhabha  and  Kwan 
Yin  being  the  best-known  and  most  popular, 
and  the  Western  Paradise  of  the  blessed  was 
set  over  against  the  metempsychosis  of  the 
more  orthodox  system.  The  doctrine  of 
Nirvana  disappeared.  The  Northern  Buddhists 
(the  Mahay  ana  School)  took  possession  of 
the  religion  in  China,  and  with  them 
came  philosophic  ignorance  and  a  spirit  of 
absorption  and  compromise.  Kwan  Yin,  the 
Goddess  of  Mercy,  captured  the  hearts  of  the 
women  of  China,  the  populace  accepted  the 

1  Eitel's  Three  Lectures  on  Buddhism. 


<  l 


40      Regeneration  of  New  China 

claims  of  the  Buddhist  priests  as  having  power 
to  say  masses  and  prayers  over  the  dead, 
while  saving  virtue  was  found  in  pilgrimages 
to  sacred  shrines  and  in  the  incantation  of 
holy  names.  Buddhism  has  joined  hands 
with  Taoism  as  a  minister  of  superstition, 
credulity,  and  fear.  It  ministers  to  the  in- 
stinct for  devotion,  in  many  instances,  truly 
enough,  but  as  a  system  it  has  neither  the 
force  nor  the  grip  of  Confucianism. 
Mohammed-  Mohammedanism  needs  a  passing  word.1 
china."1  Although  this  religious  system  has  a  long 
history  in  China,  being  reputed  (though  on 
no  sufficient  grounds)  to  have  reached  the 
Empire  during  the  lifetime  of  the  prophet 
himself,  it  may  be  neglected  in  any  discussion 
of  the  formative  influences  exerted  by  the 
historic  religions  of  China.  In  spite  of  the 
many  millions  of  its  converts  it  has  exercised 
no  marked  measure  of  formative  force  upon 
Chinese  life.  On  the  one  hand,  it  has  re- 
mained distinct,  in  no  way  fusing  with  the 
"  three  religions  "  ;  on  the  other,  its  followers 
have  not  manifested  an  aggressive  policy  in 
ways  that  count  for  moral  or  religious  influ- 
ence, although  their  revolutionary  and  martial 
conduct  has  been  repeatedly  in  evidence. 
Neither  the  spiritual  nor  the  intellectual  life 

1  Cf.  Marshall  Broomhall,  Islam  in  China. 


Religion  and  Character  of  Race    41 

of  Mohammedanism  has  been  much  in  evi- 
dence in  China,  and  without  these,  propagand- 
ism  of  any  kind  carries  no  weight  in  that  land. 

Nothing  has  more  effectually  served  to  Short- 
demonstrate  the  shortcomings  of  Confucianism  confudan- 
as  a  faith  for  common  life  than  the  wonderful  B^dSst 
success  of  the  Buddhist  propaganda  in  ancient  atteJa5!:s  to 
China  and  its  hold  upon  the  devotional  life 
of  the  Chinese  down  to  the  present  day,  despite 
its  degeneracy  and  the  ignorant  viciousness 
of  many  of  its  priests.  It  came  to  hungry 
hearts  with  a  word  of  comfort  and  even  of 
hope,  which  the  austerity  and  definiteness 
of  the  Confucian  code  couid  not  offer,  and 
which  the  blend  of  abstract  thought  and 
superstition  constituting  Taoism  did  nothing 
to  relieve.  The  Buddhist  teaching  of  divine 
mercy  opened  to  the  mass  of  the  people  a 
new  soul-world.  Little  wonder  that  Buddhism 
won  its  way  amongst  the  common  people, 
or  that  its  teachings  have  entered  into  the 
daily  life  of  this  eclectic  nation.  Scholars 
have  scorned  it,  for  its  priesthood  is  ignorant ; 
rarely  does  a  Buddhist  priest  know  anything 
of  the  Chinese  Classics  ;  its  teachings  and  its 
monks  have  been  lampooned  and  ridiculed 
ever  since  it  laid  hold  of  China  ;  the  Buddhist 
monk  is  to-day  the  stock  buffoon  of  the 
caricaturist   and   the   jester   of    the    Chinese 


42      Regeneration  of  New  China 

Press  on  account  of  both  his  ignorance 
and  his  vicious  tendencies  ;  yet,  degenerate 
in  teaching  and  degrading  in  practice  as  it 
almost  invariably  is,  it  has  kept  alive  the 
spirit  of  worship  in  many  humble  souls.  Not 
a  few  of  the  most  devout  disciples  of  the 
Christian  Church  in  China,  especially  the 
women,  are  those  whose  spiritual  aspirations 
found  their  earlier  expression  in  Buddhist 
rites.  It  has  done  little  to  elevate  and  en- 
noble the  life  of  its  people  ;  it  has,  however, 
given  to  them  a  "  method  of  devotion  "  and 
a  measure  of  spiritual  contentment  which 
neither  of  the  indigenous  religions  could  offer. 
As  it  breaks  up  in  the  China  of  to-morrow, 
Chinese  Buddhism  may  bequeath  to  the 
Christian  life  of  the  Chinese  people  a  heritage 
of  no  little  value. 
Buddhist  in-  So  quietly  and  surely  has  Buddhist  influ- 
Taoism  ence  permeated  Chinese  life  that  few  Chinese 
fudanlsm.  are  really  aware  of  the  extent  over  which  it 
ranges.  Taoism,  which  is  one  of  the  saddest 
examples  in  all  human  history  of  the  utter 
degradation  of  noble  aim  and  high  thought 
to  the  very  basest  of  uses,1  has  given  to  and 
taken  from  Buddhism  in  most  conscienceless 

1  The  writer  once  saw  a  party  of  Taoist  priests  conducting 
a  religious  service  in  a  house  of  ill-fame  for  the  betterment 
of  the  business  of  the  establishment.  ) 


Religion  and  Character  of  Race    43 

fashion.  Paper  money  is  burned  for  the 
benefit  of  the  dead  in  Buddhist  temples,  and 
there  are  few  Taoist  temples  where  Buddhist 
images  are  not  worshipped. 

Nor  has  Confucianism  remained  unaffected. 
"It  is  difficult  to  imagine  the  life  of  the 
ordinary  man  deprived  of  Buddhist  monks 
and  monasteries.  The  very  outward  aspect 
of  the  country  bears  unmistakable  signs  of 
Buddhism.  The  pagodas,  for  instance,  have 
spread  outside  the  narrow  borders  of  Budd- 
hist sanctuaries  in  China.  They  have  as- 
sumed a  totally  different  significance  from 
their  original  one,  that  of  monuments  to  the 
memory  of  a  saint  or  in  honour  of  the  Buddha. 
They  have  been  incorporated  into  the  so- 
called  doctrine  of  '  Feng  ShuiS "  Feng 
Shui  is  the  "  Wind -Water  "  theory  which 
has  done  so  much  to  bring  modern  China 
into  ridicule  by  its  use  in  opposition  to  the 
building  of  railways  and  the  opening  of  mines, 
and  it  is  a  survival  of  one  of  the  most  ancient 
forms  of  Nature-worship  and  interpretation 
in  China.  There  are  pagodas  in  China  which 
have  special  association  with  Chinese  scholar- 
ship,1 and  hence  with  Confucianism,  whilst 
Buddhist  influence  upon  the  literature  of 
China   has    been  considerable  and   upon  its 

1  E.g.,  the  "  pen  "  and  <e  ink  slab  "  pagodas  of  Soochow. 


44      Regeneration  of  New  China 

art  most  significant.  Into  the  ritual  of  the 
Confucian  temples,  where  the  ceremonious 
cult  of  Confucianism  is  to  be  seen  at  its 
highest,  no  touch  of  foreign  ceremony,  Budd- 
hist or  other,  has  entered.  Its  influence  is 
seen  therein,  however,  in  the  growth  of  an 
idolatrous  worship  paid  to  the  image  of 
Confucius,  which  the  great  Sage  himself  would 
be  the  first  to  condemn. 

The  thorough-going  Confucianist  is  found 
consistently  eager  to  consent  to  the  claim  of 
the  Christian  teacher  that  idolatry  is  foolish 
and  wrong.  When  he  is  willing  to  discuss 
the  subject  at  all,  he  is  always  anxious  to 
assert  that  a  true  disciple  of  the  great  Sage 
can  never  believe  in  the  idolatrous  practices 
of  popular  Buddhism  grafted  on  to  the  vulgar 
magic- working  ceremonies  of  Taoism;  few, 
however,  are  the  households  of  even  such 
men  where  may  not  be  found  a  Taoist 
"  Kitchen  God  "  in  the  cook-house,  Taoist 
charms  over  the  doorways,  amulets  strung 
round  the  necks  of  the  children,  and  in  some 
niche  the  all-persuasive  and  attractive  figure, 
in  porcelain  or  brass,  of  the  Goddess  of  Mercy 
— the  Buddhist  Kwan  Yin.1     Challenged  upon 

1  The  Chinese  form  of  the  deity  Avalokiteshvara,  which  is 
female  in  Ceylon,  male  in  Tibet,  generally  female  in  China 
and  Japan. 


Religion  and  Character  of  Race    45 

this  point  the  scholar  will  invariably  excuse 
their  presence  as  due  to  the  weakness  of  the 
women  of  the  household,  "  who  are  ignorant 
and  will  have  such  things." 

The  Confucian  scholar,  then,  remember- 
ing the  noble  example  and  the  mighty  prose 
style  of  the  great  Han  Yu, — whose  loyalty  to 
the  ancient  way  of  the  great  Sage  led  him 
to  court  martyrdom  and  to  suffer  exile  by 
rebuking  in  good  set  terms,  and  in  a  style 
which  has  become  one  of  the  models  of 
classical  writing,  the  Buddhistic  tendencies 
of  the  Emperor  of  his  day, — may  treat  with 
superciliousness  the  "  superstitions  "  of  the 
women  folk,  but  even  his  lofty  disdain  is 
not  always  proof  against  the  possible  win- 
ning of  the  favour  of  the  powers  of  the 
spiritual  world  in  times  of  stress  and  storm. 
If  he  be  an  official,  and  the  popular  mind 
strongly  conceives  the  idea  that  in  a  time 
of  drought  heaven's  mercy  may  be  won  by 
worship  at  a  well-known  Buddhist  shrine, 
the  Confucian  scholar  will  not  refrain  from 
bending  the  knee  before  Sakyamuni  or 
Amidhabha  or  Kwan  Yin.  At  the  set 
seasons  of  the  year,  until  the  new  era  began, 
either  in  person  or  by  proxy,  the  scholar 
official,  proud  follower  of  the  Confucian  code, 
would  lead  the  masses  in  prostration  before 


46      Regeneration  of  New  China 

the  guardian  gods  of  the  city  in  which  he 
held  office  as  obsequiously  as  the  most  igno- 
rant and  superstitious  of  his  fellows.  He 
does  it,  he  will  tell  you,  "  because  it  pleases 
the  people,  and  the  common  folk  know 
no  better."  Where  practical  Confucianism 
(as  distinguished  from  the  Confucianism  of 
the  books)  ends,  and  the  superstitions  of 
Taoism  or  the  idolatries  of  Buddhism  begin, 
no  man  can  tell,  least  of  all  the  Confucianist 
himself. 
the  Whilst   the   home   remains   the   centre   of 

upbringUS  superstition  and  the  women  of  the  house- 
"J^  of  the  noid  are  left  to  their  belief  in  magic,  sorcery, 
youth.  divination  and  idolatry,  the  growing  youth, 
whether  male  or  female,  will  be  bound  to 
show  the  effect.  The  lad  at  school  may 
read  the  well-known  Confucian  maxim, 
"  Respect  the  spirits,  but  preserve  your 
distance "  with  the  reverence  due  to  the 
Sage,  but  its  influence  upon  him  is  not  likely 
to  stand  the  test  of  the  incense  sticks  and 
offerings  of  food  to  the  God  of  War,  the  God 
of  Wealth,  and  the  Goddess  of  Mercy,  or 
the  burning  of  paper  money  at  the  grave 
mound  at  the  next  feast  day  or  New  Moon. 
Intellectual  training  tells  him  one  thing, 
example  and  custom  teach  another,  and 
victory  is  not  often  with  the  intellect. 


Religion  and  Character  of  Race    47 

From  earliest  days,  moreover,  a  Chinese  Relationship 
youth  has  the  thought  of  the  ancestral  spirits  sp£its6Stra 
and  the  need  for  reverent  obeisance  before 
their  tablets,  together  with  food  and  drink 
offerings  at  stated  times,  constantly  in  his 
mind.  The  care  of  the  ancestral  graves  is, 
largely  from  superstitious  fears,  a  matter 
of  even  more  moment  than  the  care  of  the 
house.  If  the  claims  of  the  dead  do  not 
come  before  those  of  the  living,  they  run  a 
very  close  race  with  them.  Paper  tokens 
of  money,  furniture,  and  commodities  of  all 
kinds,  must  be  devoted  by  burning  to  the 
use  of  the  departed.  In  no  other  land 
is  the  dead  hand  laid  so  heavily  upon  the 
living  as  in  China.  It  is  part  of  the  very 
web  of  life.  Chinese  national  heroes  have 
been  first  canonised,  then  made  demi-gods, 
and  finally  deified  in  the  process  of  the 
spirit  worship.  The  God  of  War,  Kwan  Ti, 
a  warrior  of  the  period  of  the  "  Three  States," 
is  now  the  most  popular  of  all  the  deities  of 
China  and  was  one  of  the  patron  gods  of 
the  ^  Manchu  Dynasty.  Confucius  receives 
all  the  worship  due  to  God  alone,  and  in  the 
ceremonial  services  of  Confucianism,  burnt 
offerings  of  bulls  are  a  conspicuous  feature. 
An  imperial  edict  of  1905  made  Confucius 
"the  equal  of  Heaven  and  Earth,"  heaven 


48      Regeneration  of  New  China 

being  "  over  all  "  and,  together  with  earth, 
the  medium  of  the  worship  of  the  Supreme 
Being. 
Practical  The    practical    effect    upon    Chinese    char- 

Spiritism,  acter  of  all  this  pressure  of  spiritism  on 
history  and  daily  life,  may  be  seen  in  an  act 
recorded  in  the  life  of  one  of  China's  most 
sincere  and  thorough-going  Confucianists, 
the  Viceroy  Chang  Chih-tung.  He  was  one 
of  the  finest  scholars  and  most  upright  char- 
acters of  China  in  the  past  generation,  a 
man  of  affairs  with  an  appreciation  of  the 
science  and  morals  of  the  West.  In  not  a 
few  matters  he  was  a  practical  pioneer  of 
progress  in  Central  China.  During  a  period 
of  sickness  he  consulted  a  Chinese  doctor 
of  the  old  school ;  "  besides  administering 
pills  composed  of 

Eye  of  newt  and  toe  of  frog 
Wool  of  bat  and  tongue  of  dog, 

the  doctor  suggested  that  one  thing  was 
still  required  to  put  the  patient  into  har- 
mony with  the  course  of  Nature.  Poinding 
to  a  fine  chain  of  hills  that  stretches  in  a 
waving  line  across  the  wide  city,  he  said, 
4  The  root  of  your  trouble  lies  there.  That 
carriage  road  which  you  have  opened  has 
wounded  the  spinal  column  of  the  serpent ; 


Religion  and  Character  of  Race    49 

restore  the  road  to  its  former  condition  and 
you  will  soon  get  well.'  The  Viceroy  filled 
the  gap  incontinently,  but  found  himself 
no  better."1  Reversion  to  superstition 
under  stress  of  circumstances  is  not  an  un- 
common incident  in  the  lives  of  the  pro- 
gressive and  enlightened.  The  cumulative 
influence  of  the  ages  is  not  to  be  overthrown 
in  a  single  lifetime,  as  a  general  rule. 

The  admixture  of  religious  practice  which  outcome 
is  the  lot  of  the  Chinese,  presents  us,  then,  «three 
to-day,  with  a  character  which  is   complex  f* "h/nese 
and    often    contradictory.      Moreover,    until  charac- 
the  leaven  of  Western  civilisation  and  Chris- 
tian faith  has  had  time  to  do  its  work  much 
more  effectively  than  is  at  present  the  case, 
modern  conditions  have  made  that  problem 
of  character  with  which  we  are  dealing  all 
the   more   involved.     An   analysis   will   help 
to  make  the  position  clearer. 

From  what  has  been  said  of  the  effect  of  Taoism  and 
the  teaching  of  Taoism  the  reader  will  have  SuPerstitlon- 
gathered  that  on  the  basis  of  a  natural  philo- 
sophy of  life  and  its  manifestations,  origin- 
ated as  the  Chinese  assert  by  the  great 
teacher  Laotze 2  during  the  sixth  century 
B.C.,  in  the  generation  before  Confucius,  an 

1  W.  A.  P.  Martin,  in  The  Awakening  of  China. 

2  Cf.  Sooth  ill,  The  Three  Religions  of  China,  ch.  iii. 


50      Regeneration  of  New  China 


Confucian- 
ism and 
Agnosti- 
cism. 


enormous  and  ridiculous  structure  of  super- 
stition and  magic  has  been  reared.  This 
has  so  permeated  the  life  of  the  nation  as 
to  affect  the  character  of  all  the  members 
of  the  race.  Live  for  a  little  with  a  disciple 
of  Confucius,  and  you  find  an  uncommonly 
superstitious  mortal.  He  believes  in  lucky  and 
unlucky  days  and  seasons,  in  the  dragons  of 
the  earth  and  sky ;  he  will  not  choose  a  site 
for  a  grave  or  a  house  until  the  geomancers 
have  been  consulted,  and,  in  a  thousand 
and  one  ways,  reveals  the  heart  of  a  man 
going  in  daily  fear  of  things  unseen  and 
supernatural.  Yet  he  is  an  intellectual  to 
the  finger  tips.  Naturally  the  common 
people  are  at  the  mercy  of  adventurers  and 
charlatans,  and  in  the  sphere  of  the  super- 
natural are  credulous  to  an  incredible  degree. 
Taoism,  as  the  agent  of  superstition  and 
magic,  has  fostered  and  developed  this 
trait  of  character. 

Confucianism,  on  the  other  hand,  has  so 
modified  the  element  of  supernaturalism  that 
in  the  character  of  every  educated  Chinese 
there  is  a  strain  of  agnosticism,  due  not  to 
any  directly  agnostic  teaching  about  matters 
of  religion,  but  to  the  coldness  of  the  atti- 
tude of  the  great  Sage  himself  towards  any- 
thing like  a  doctrine  of  spiritual  life.     Asked 


A    BUDDHIST    PRIEST 


.  « 


*    • 


;• 


♦  I  <J  I 


Religion  and  Character  of  Race    51 

by  one  of  his  disciples  about  the  subject  of 
death,  Confucius  answered,  "  While  you  do 
not  know  life,  how  can  you  know  about 
death  ?  "  In  his  memorabilia  (Lun  Yu)  we 
are  told  that  he  avoided  speaking  upon  four 
subjects,  "  extraordinary  things.,  feats  of 
strength,  rebellious  disorder,  and  spirits" 
Yet  he  handed  on  the  teaching  and  form  of 
religious  observance  as  he  received  it,  and 
was  insistent  upon  the  need  for  faithful  and 
exact  performance  of  accepted  rites  and 
ceremonies,  as  regards  both  the  living 
(filial  piety  and  the  "five  relationships"1) 
and  the  dead  (ancestral  worship).  In  his 
teaching  there  is  more  than  one  reference 
to  the  subject  of  prayer,  and  he  himself 
was  particularly  attentive  to  the  ceremonial 
sacrifices. 

Some  of  the  prayers  used  in  the  ancient  Confucian- 
worship  of  China,  which  are  recorded  in  the  prayer. 
Confucian  literature  and  are  therefore  well 
known  to  the  scholar-class,  reached  a  very 
high  level  of  spiritual  utterance.  The  follow- 
ing is  taken  from  the  ritual  used  by  the 
Ming  Emperors  at  the  "  solstice "  worship 
of  Shang  Ti.  "  All  the  numerous  tribes 
of    animated    beings    are   indebted    to    Thy 

1  Ruler  and  minister,  husband  and  wife,  father  and  son, 
elder  and  younger  brother,  friend  and  friend. 
C 


52      Regeneration  of  New  China 

favour  for  their  beginning.  Men  and  crea- 
tures are  eniparadised,  0  Ti  (Lord)  in  Thy 
love.  All  living  things  are  indebted  to  Thy 
goodness,  but  who  knows  whence  his  bless- 
ings come  to  him  ?  It  is  Thou  alone,  O 
Lord,  who  art  the  true  parent  of  all  things. 
.  .  .  The  Service  of  Song  is  completed,  but 
our  poor  sincerity  cannot  be  fully  expressed. 
Thy  sovereign  goodness  is  infinite.  As  a 
potter  Thou  hast  made  all  living  things. 
Great  and  small  are  curtained  round.  As 
engraven  on  the  heart  of  Thy  poor  servant 
is  the  sense  of  Thy  goodness,  but  my  feeling 
cannot  be  fully  displayed.  With  great  kind- 
ness dost  Thou  bear  with  us,  and  notwith- 
standing our  demerits,  dost  grant  us  life 
and  prosperity."  If  Confucianism  could 
have  brought  this  high  thought  down  from 
ritualism  to  daily  life,  what  might  it  not  have 
done  for  the  people  ?  This  it  never  did. 
The  best  things  enshrined  in  the  Confucian 
code  are  the  possession  of  a  cult  which  cere- 
monially serves  rather  than  practises  them. 
The  The    "  Superior   man"    of   Confucius    was 

"Superior     one  °^   m°derate,   aloof,   unenthusiastic  and 
Man.'  deliberate    temperament,    conscious    of    his 

superiority  and  not  slow  to  exhibit  proof 
of  it.  The  attitude  of  intellectual  contempt 
revealed    in   the    national    character,    which 


Religion  and  Character  of  Race    53 

has  done  so  much  to  bring  the  Chinese  into 
trouble  and  disaster  in  recent  years,  must  be 
laid  to  the  charge  of  the  Confucian  temper. 
Emphasis  has  been  laid  upon  conduct,  and 
morality  has  been  inculcated  largely  from  the 
merely  utilitarian  point  of  view.  Virtue  for 
its  own  sake,  and  because  virtue  pays,  has 
been  advocated.  Undue  prominence,  again, 
has  been  given  to  ceremonial  observance  as 
an  expression  of  "  propriety."  All  this  has 
developed  a  certain  hollowness  of  conduct, 
and  a  habit  of  judging  by  the  externals  of 
morality  only,  accentuating  that  breach  be- 
tween theory  and  fact,  doctrine  and  conduct, 
which  is  so  sad  and  defective  a  feature  in 
the  character  of  Chinese  officialdom. 

At  the  same  time  it  must  in  fairness  be 
observed  that  the  teachings  of  Confucius 
have  handed  down  even  to  this  generation 
a  sense  of  God,  the  Supreme  Ruler,  which 
is  of  the  utmost  value  to  the  Christian  ad- 
vocate. It  has  also  kept  alive  a  sense  of 
moral  behaviour  and  a  form  of  virtuous 
conduct  which  is  akin  to  the  Christian,  and 
to  which  the  disciple  of  Christ  can  fairly 
and  successfully  make  his  appeal.  In  spite  of 
intellectual  pride  and  formal  morality,  the 
character  produced  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Confucian  teaching  has  within  it  elements  of 


54      Regeneration  of  New  China 

the  highest  value  from  the  Christian  point  of 
view,  and  these  are  bound  to  play  a  con- 
siderable part  in  the  development  of  Christian 
teaching  within  the  Church  of  Christ  in  China. 
Confucianism  stands  finally  and  firmly  for 
the  order  of  the  world  as  "  moral  "  and  not 
merely  material.  Only,  be  it  remembered, 
the  pure  Confucianist,  save  in  very  isolated 
centres,  does  not  exist  "  in  a  person."  Under- 
neath the  Chinese  character,  however,  there 
is,  especially  in  the  scholar-class,  a  definite 
Confucian  basis  which  the  Christian  mis- 
sionary, in  order  to  be  successful,  must  under- 
stand and  appreciate.  It  is  that  with  which 
we  have  been  dealing. 

What  then  of  the  more  essentially  religious 
side  of  the  Chinese  mind  ?    Does  the  Chinese 
character  reveal  any  knowledge  of  the  devo- 
tional plane  of  human  nature ;    the  thought 
of   a  life  spirit -filled  and  spirit  -  guided ;    or 
is  it  impotent  as  well  as  immature  in  this 
respect  ?      Does     the     degenerate     spiritual 
conception  which  is  expressed  in  the  super- 
stitions of  modern  Taoism  exhaust  the  re- 
ligious activities  of  the  Chinese  mind  ? 
Buddhism         In  spite  of  some  assertions,  and  in  spite 
Devotional    of    much    outward    appearance,   the   answer 
Life.  is  "  by  no  means  !  "    The  many  pilgrimages 

of  Chinese  to  India  in  search   of  Buddhist 


Religion  and  Character  of  Race    55 

literature  and  learning,  recorded  in  Chinese 
history,1  may  be  treated  as  so  much  revela- 
tion of  the  natural  tendency  of  much  of 
Chinese  character  even  to-day.  This  is  not 
to  say  that  the  Chinese  have,  like  the  Hindus, 
a  special  and  particularly  natural  aptitude 
for  religion  in  the  abstract.  They  have 
not.  But  Buddhism  has  taught  them  in 
its  history  in  China  the  character-making 
value  of  religious  meditation,  and  has 
cherished  in  the  national  thought  the  idea 
of  a  life  of  the  soul  and  a  progression  of 
the  spiritual  life  towards  perfection.  Budd- 
hism has  suffered  from  the  materialistic 
tendencies  of  Chinese  thought  in  its  vivid 
portrayal  of  material  hells,2  of  punishment 
therein,  and  of  a  material  heaven,  and  in  the 
remarkable  transposed  application  in  daily 
life  of  the  doctrine  of  transmigration  where- 
by a  system  of  rewards  and  punishments 
has  been  evolved  so  that  millions  of  Chinese 
keep  a  materio-spiritual  account-book  for 
themselves.  So  many  points  are  recorded 
for  one  good  deed,  so  many  for  another,  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  points  are  deducted  for 
evil  deeds.    At  the  close  of  the  year  a  debit 

1  E.g.  Fa  Hien,  a.d.  400  :  Hsuin  Tsang,  a.d.  629-45. 

2  Eight  of  extreme  heat,  eight  of  extreme  cold,  eight  of 
utter  darkness,  and  so  on  ;  with  chambers  of  horrors 
attached — in  all,  beyond  a  hundred  thousand. 


56      Regeneration  of  New  China 


CHRIS- 
TIANITY 
CONFRONT- 
ING NOT 
ONLY 
CHINESE 
RELIGIONS 
BUT 

WESTERN 
MATERIAL- 
ISM AND 
RATION- 
ALISM. 


or  a  credit  balance  is  carried  forward. 
Nevertheless  the  sense  of  spiritual  value, 
as  we  judge  it,  is  there  in  the  Chinese  char- 
acter, revealing  itself  sometimes  in  very 
surprising  ways  and  ready  to  respond  to  the 
call  of  Christian  devotion. 

We  have  dealt  only  with  those  aspects 
of  Chinese  character  that  are  connected  with 
the  religious  history  and  training  of  the 
Chinese,  having  in  view  an  understanding 
of  the  tendencies  favourable  or  hostile  to 
the  advance  of  Christianity.  Other  aspects 
of  character  are  to  be  dealt  with  in  their 
place.  We  must  bear  in  mind,  however, 
that  Christianity  is  not  the  only  gospel 
being  offered  to  China  to-day,  and  that  the 
agnostic  and  materialistic  tendencies  to 
which  reference  has  been  made  have  also 
their  modern  ministers  and  evangelists. 
Echoes  of  the  campaign  of  rationalism  which 
is  being  carried  on  in  China  have  recently 
been  heard  in  this  country,  and  are  by  no 
means  a  spent  force.1  The  gospel  of  force 
and  of  the  dependence  of  nations  and  men 
upon  material  power, — implements  of  war 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  teaching  that  man 
does  live  by  bread  alone,  upon  the  other — 

1  See  A  Chinese  Appeal  to  Christendom,  by  Lin  Shao-yang, 
ascribed  by  J.  O.  P.  Bland  to  C.  F.  Johnston. 


Religion  and  Character  of  Race    57 

have  also  to  be  reckoned  with,  and  the  men- 
ace of  them  to  the  progress  of  the  Christian 
faith  in  China  to-day  is  a  very  real  one.  The 
powers  of  life  and  death  are  striving  with  each 
other  for  the  soul  of  the  Chinese  people. 

Finally,   the  confessed  failure   of  the   old 
order  in  China,  moral  and  religious  as  well 
as  material,  has  to  be  kept  clearly  in  mind 
as   one   of  the   outstanding  features   of  the 
situation.    So    many   rooms    of   the   temple 
of  the   Chinese  mind  are  becoming  empty, 
swept  and  garnished,  and  they  lack  a  Lord. 
The  slow-moving,  sure-working  forces  of  the 
Providence  of  God  have  in  our  day  come  to 
a  focus  in  China,  preparing  a  way  for  Him. 
Contact    with    the    material    forces    of    the 
West,   the  war  with  Japan,   the   overthrow 
of  the  old  cosmological  ideas  in  the  face  of 
modern  science  and  discovery,  the  practical 
illustration  of  the  fast   moving  progress   of 
Western  nations  and  their  rapidly  growing 
wealth,  the  internationalising    of    commerce, 
and  the  close  contact  in  person  of  numbers 
of  Chinese  with  Europe  and  America,  these 
and  a  thousand  other  things  have  served  to 
clear  the  ground  of  much  that  was  in  pos- 
session, good  as  well  as  bad.     Much  of  the 
good    that    was   there,   and    that   was    too 
readily  thrown  over,  is  bound  to  return,  but 


58      Regeneration  of  New  China 

what  is  to  take  the  place  of  the  bad  that  has 
gone  or  is  ready  to  go  ?  Whose  is  the  hand- 
writing that  shall  fill  the  comparatively  clean 
sheet  of  Chinese  thought  to-day  ?  Shall  it 
be  that  of  Jesus  Christ  ? 

Supplementary  Reading 

A  standard  and  yet  not  unduly  academic  book  is  The 
Three  Religions  of  China,  by  the  Rev.  W.  E.  Soothill : 
Chaps.  I.  (general  sketch),  XI.  (official  religion),  and 
XII.  (private  religion)  should  be  read  in  connection 
with  the  present  study.  Dr  Legge's  The  Religions  oj 
China,  in  its  description  of  Confucianism  and  Taoism 
and  comparison  of  them  with  Christianity,  is  full  and 
clear  without  being  ponderous.  A  good  brief  sketch 
is  contained  in  Grant's  Religions  oj  the  World,  and 
scholarly  yet  popular  statements  from  a  historical 
point  of  view  will  be  found  in  the  two  little  books  en- 
titled Confucianism  and  Taoism  (by  R.  K.  Douglas) 
and  Buddhism  in  China  (by  S.  Beal).  A  graphic  por- 
trayal of  some  features  of  everyday  religion  in  China 
will  be  found  in  Men  and  Manners  of  Modern  China,  by 
the  Rev.  J.  MacGowan  (Chaps.  VII.  to  XI.). 

Particularly  important  are  the  following  articles : 
"  The  Influence  of  the  Revolution  on  Religion  in  China," 
by  Richard  Wilhelm,  in  The  International  Review  of  Mis- 
sions for  October  1913  ;  The  Position  and  Prospects  of 
Confucianism  in  China,"  by  the  Rev.  P.  J.  Maclagan,  in 
the  I.R.M.  for  April  1914  ;  "  The  Chinese  Revolution  in 
Relation  to  Mission  Work,"  by  the  Bishop  of  Anking, 
in  The  East  and  the  West  for  April  1914 ;  "  What  Elements 
of  the  Old  Civilisation  should  be  retained  in  the  Recon- 
struction of  China  ?  "  by  Hsu  Wei  Yung,  in  The  China 
Mission  Year  Book  for  1913. 


J  9     -> 


o     • 


•  4 


* 


.  J      •>       J 


3 
J  J 


THE    INFALLIBLE 


A  famous  teacher  of  the  Mandarin  language,  never  known  to  fail  to  find 
a  rendering  for  any  phrase  or  character 


CHAPTER  III 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  GREAT  AWAKENING 


The  awakening  of  China  must  be  distin- 
guished from  the  Chinese  revolution,  which 
resulted  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Manchus. 
The  awakening  was  inevitable  ;  it  was  as-  Awakening: 
sured  from  the  very  moment  when  Western  firauRerota- 
knowledge  and  Western  civilisation  madetlon* 
an  effective  impact  upon  old  China.  The 
revolution  was  not  inevitable,  being  the 
result  of  political  conditions  which  drove 
the  forces  of  reform  into  an  anti-Imperial 
channel.  China  was  in  truth  awakened 
when  the  lessons  of  the  Boxer  rebellion  had 
been  brought  home  to  her,  and  when,  in  con- 
sequence, the  Empress-Dowager  Tsu  Hsi  was 
forced  to  the  adoption  of  a  reform  policy, 
endeavouring,  curiously  enough,  to  make 
terms  with  the  new  power  that  had 
arisen  in  the  nation  by  adopting  the  new 
system  of  civil  examinations  and  by  pro- 
mising to  the  reformers  constitutional  govern- 
ment and  a  parliament.  If  we  would  arrive 
at  a  due  appreciation  of  the  part  which  the 


59 


60      Regeneration  of  New  China 

missionary  enterprise  took  in  that  great 
event,  the  bearing  of  Christianity  in  China 
upon  the  awakening  of  the  nation  must 
be  considered  historically,  and  apart  from 
the  problems  which  have  arisen  as  the 
result  of  the  revolution  and  of  the  con- 
sequently changed  political  and  social  situa- 
tion. As  far  back  as  1907  it  was  possible 
and  fitting  to  entitle  a  very  serious  dis- 
cussion of  the  situation  as  it  was  then  The 
Awakening  of  China.1  Dealing  first  with 
the  forces  within  Christianity  that  made  the 
"  awakening  '  possible  and  sure  in  their  his- 
torical aspect,  we  shall  be  in  a  better  position 
to  review  the  Christian  task  in  the  light  of 
the  experience  of  the  past  century. 
contin-  A  great  unity  is  discernible  in  the  influence 

christian  which  the  Christian  propaganda  has  exer- 
influence.  cisea  m  china.  The  introduction  of  Chris- 
tianity  as  a  missionary  faith,  viewed  as  a 
matter  of  ancient  history,  reveals  lines  of 
direct  and  vital  connection  with  the  modern 
missionary  propaganda  of  the  Reformed 
Churches  in  that  land.  The  links  He  in 
policy  rather  than  in  action.  Robert  Mor- 
rison connects  directly  with  the  Roman 
Catholic  missions  which  long  preceded  his 
arrival    at    Canton    in    1807,    and    although 

1  By  Dr  W.  A.  P.  Martin. 


Christianity  and  Great  Awakening  61 

those  missions  were  actively  opposed  to  his 
great  enterprise,  his  indebtedness  to  a  member 
of  their  order  in  an  earlier  day  was  consider- 
able. The  greatest  of  the  heroic  labours 
of  Morrison,  and  that  for  which  the  Church 
in  China  to-day  is  most  grateful  to  him, 
was  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  and 
the  preparation  of  the  Anglo-Chinese  Dic- 
tionary. Morrison's  introduction  to  the 
Chinese  language,  in  its  written  form,  was 
through  a  Chinese  manuscript  that  he 
found  in  the  British  Museum.  This  he 
transcribed  with  infinite  pains  in  order  to 
acquaint  himself  with  the  written  forms  of 
the  Chinese  language.  This  manuscript 
comprised  a  harmony  of  the  Gospels,  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  most  of  the 
Epistles.  Another  manuscript  (a  Latin- 
Chinese  Dictionary)  was  in  the  possession 
of  the  Royal  Society.  Morrison  said,  "  The 
dictionary  and  the  harmony  of  the  Gospels 
were  most  useful.  They  were  originally  the 
work  of  some  of  the  Romish  missionaries 
in  China.  By  what  individuals  or  at  what 
time  these  works  were  compiled  has  not 
been  ascertained,  but  Providence  had  pre- 
served them  to  be  useful,  and  the  just  merits 
of  their  authors  will  doubtless  one  day  be 
reckoned  to  them." 


62       Regeneration  of  New  China 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  a  similar 
way  the  Nestorian  missions  to  China  during 
the  seventh  century  were  a  very  special 
challenge  to  Christendom,  and  the  means 
of  quickening  in  the  mediaeval  Church  a 
desire  to  claim  the  great  Empire  of  Tartary 
for  Christ.  Prester  John,1  the  half-mythical, 
reputed  Priest-King  of  a  Tartar  state,  "  after 
the  order  of  Melchizedek,"  touched  the  im- 
agination and  fired  the  zeal  of  devoted  monks 
in  the  early  middle  ages,  so  that  in  many 
differing  but  real  ways  a  continuity  is  trace- 
able in  the  apparently  sporadic  missionary 
efforts  of  Christian  men  to  convert  China 
during  the  past  thousand  years.2 

Putting  aside  the  theory,  which  is  both 
attractive  and  not  improbable,  that  some 
knowledge  of  Christianity  entered  China 
Nestorian  during  the  first  Christian  century  in  con- 
junction with  the  introduction  of  Buddhism,3 
the  first  trace  of  missionary  Christianity  in 
China  of  which  we  have  direct  evidence  is 
that  of  the  Nestorian  missionaries  who 
arrived  at  Hsi-an,  the  then  capital  of  China, 
in  a.d.  6S5.4    The    recovery    of   the   know- 

1  Cf.  Wylie's  Researches. 

2  Cf.  The  Chinese  People,  A.  E.  Moule,  ch.  viii. 

3  Cf.  The  Creed  of  Half  Japan.     Lloyd. 

4  Cf.  Studies  in  Chinese  Religions.     Parker. 


Missions. 


Christianity  and  Great  Awakening  63 

ledge  of  this  early  missionary  enterprise 
was  due  to  the  accidental  unearthing,  in  the 
year  1625,  of  a  stone  inscription  known  as 
the  "Nestorian  tablet,"  while  some  Chinese 
were  digging  for  foundations  in  a  township 
near  Hsi-an.  The  work  of  the  Nestorian  mis- 
sionaries attained  to  considerable  propor- 
tions during  the  centuries  immediately 
following,  and  then  disappeared  entirely  in 
its  organised  form  from  the  stage  of  Chinese 
religious  life. 

We  cannot  overlook  the  fact  that  Nes- 
torianism  was  in  the  exact  sense  heretical. 
It  did  not  give  to  our  Lord  that  place 
which  has  always  been  accorded  Him  by 
a  truly  Apostolic  Church.  The  conclusion 
that  is  to  be  drawn  regarding  Nestorian 
Christianity  in  China  is  that  whilst  it  was 
widespread  it  was  not  deep  rooted,  that  it 
flourished  largely  because,  during  some 
Imperial  reigns,  it  was  tolerated  and  even 
favoured,  and  that  it  vanished  as  remark- 
ably as  it  did  because  it  "  had  not  root," 
and  could  not  stand  the  fiery  test  of  per- 
secution. 

A-lo-pen,  the  priest  who  arrived  first  at 
the  Chinese  capital  city,  won  the  interest 
of  the  tolerant  and  cultured  Emperor  of 
the  Tang  Dynasty,  Tai  Tsung.    These  early 


64      Regeneration  of  New  China 

monks  came  into  contact  with  Buddhist 
inquirers  then  resident  at  the  Royal  Court, 
and  it  has  been  urged  with  some  force,  and 
a  good  deal  of  sound  argument,  that  not  a 
few  of  the  definitely  Christian  elements  to 
be  found  in  the  newer  Buddhism  had  been 
acquired  during  the  inter-relations  of  Nes- 
torianism  and  Buddhism  in  the  early  days 
of  Christian  missionary  effort  in  Hsi-an.1 
Certain  it  is  that  a  Nestorian  priest  (the 
author  of  the  inscription  upon  the  Nestorian 
tablet)  helped  a  Buddhist  monk  to  trans- 
late one  of  the  Sutras  into  Chinese.  It  may 
be  that  this  fact  is  indicative  of  undue  will- 
ingness on  the  part  of  the  Nestorians  to 
compromise  their  already  weakened  evangel 
upon  points  generally  accepted  as  essential, 
and  that  it  was  through  this  absence  of 
a  rock  foundation  of  needful  doctrine  that 
Nestorianism,  as  a  Christian  organization, 
fell  as  did  the  house  which  was  "  built  upon 
the  sand." 

It  would  appear,  moreover,  that  the  Nes- 
torian missionaries  gave  little  attention  to 
the  use  of  literature  in  the  land  in  which 
literature  counts  for  more  than  any  other 
intellectual  attainment.  There  must  cer- 
tainly have  been  found  in  China  some  traces 

1  Cf.  The  Greed  of  Half  Japan.     Lloyd. 


Christianity  and  Great  Awakening  65 

of  their  literary  activities  had  they  pro- 
duced a  worthy  evangelistic  literature.  How- 
soever that  may  be,  the  contribution  of 
Nestorianism  to  the  Christianization  of  China 
was  indirect  rather  than  direct,  and  in  the 
Christian  Church  of  China  to-day  no  trace  of 
Nestorian  influence  is  to  be  found. 

The  Roman  Catholic  missions  in  China  Early 
date  back  to  the  days  of  the  Mongol  con-  Missions, 
quest  of  that  country  under  Kublai  Khan, 
and  entered  Peking  from  Tartary  with  the 
conquering  invaders.  The  zeal  of  the  Chris- 
tian brothers  of  the  Order  of  St  Francis, 
who  laboured  under  the  Khans  of  Tartary, 
was  of  a  high  and  self-sacrificing  order,  but 
the  identification  of  their  work  with  foreign 
conquest  was  unfortunate  and  disastrous. 
John  de  Monte  Corvino,  a  truly  great  and 
wise  missionary,1  was  sent  to  Peking  by 
Pope  Nicholas  IV.  ,  in  1289,  and  later 
consecrated  as  Archbishop  of  Peking  by 
Clement  V.,  being  given  jurisdiction  over  all 
Christians  throughout  China.1  This  intrepid 
missionary  speaks  of  having  baptised  nearly 
6000  persons  in  the  church  that  he  built 
in  Khanbalik  (Peking),  and  of  having  won 
the  favour  and  regard  of  the  Emperor. 
Marco  Polo  was  in  China,  a  valued  official 

1  Cf.  Hue,  Christianity  in  China  and  Tartary. 


66      Regeneration  of  New  China 


Ricci  and 
the  Second 
Period  of 
Roman 
Missions. 


of  the  Mongol  Emperor,  from  1275  to  1293, 
and  in  his  day  both  Nestorian  and  Fran- 
ciscan Churches  were  in  evidence.1  With 
the  overthrow  of  the  Mongol  Dynasty  in 
1369  and  the  rise  to  supreme  power  of  a 
Chinese  who  in  early  life  had  been  a  Bud- 
dhist monk,  Christianity  seems  to  have 
perished.  There  ensued  what  has  been  de- 
scribed as  "  a  desolate  silence  of  200  years, 
till  the  arrival  of  the  Jesuit  Mission,  at  first 
under  Valignani  in  1547  in  Macao,  and  then 
moving  northward  under  Mathew  Ricci  and 
his  illustrious  companions."  2 

The  Jesuit  missions  entered  China,  under 
Portuguese  influence,  from  the  centres  of 
Malacca  and  Macao.  It  was  from  Malacca 
that  the  great  Xavier,  passing  between  India 
and  Japan,  attempted  to  realise  his  holy 
ambition  to  enter  China.  He  reached  the 
island  of  Shang-chuen,  not  many  miles  from 
the  southern  coast  of  China,  and  there  died. 

With  Mathew  Ricci  begins  the  second 
occupation  of  China  by  Roman  Catholic 
missionaries.  Their  first  residence  in  China 
was  in  a  Buddhist  temple  at  Chao-ching, 
near  Canton,  which  place  was  assigned  to 
them  by  the  Viceroy  of  that  time,  who  was 

1  CY.  The  Travels  of  Marco  Polo. 

2  Moule,  The  Chinese  People. 


Christianity  and  Great  Awakening  67 

interested  in  the  Western  inventions  that 
they  introduced  to  his  notice  in  the  year 
1552.  Ricci  was  well  versed  in  mathe- 
matics and  in  the  natural  science  of  his 
day :  these  he  began  to  turn  to  account  in 
the  service  of  his  mission.  As  the  medical 
attendant  of  a  high  military  official  he 
was  given  the  opportunity  of  travelling 
to  Peking.  There  he  settled,  after  many 
wanderings  and  vicissitudes,  as  a  trusted 
scientific  adviser  of  the  Chinese  Emperor, 
attached  to  the  Board  of  Astronomy,  and 
recognised  as  the  head  of  the  Jesuit  Mission 
in  China.  "  It  was  in  the  character  of 
apostles  of  science  that  Roman  Catholic 
missionaries  obtained  a  footing  in  Peking 
three  centuries  ago,  and  were  enabled  to 
plant  their  faith  throughout  the  provinces. 
Armed  with  telescope  and  sextant  they 
effected  the  reform  of  the  Chinese  Calendar, 
and  secured  for  their  religion  the  respect  and 
adherence  of  some  of  the  highest  minds  in 
the  Empire."  In  1610  Ricci  died,  having 
by  his  attainments  and  devotion  accom- 
plished a  marvellous  work  for  his  Church 
and  his  Master.  On  his  deathbed  he  was 
asked  by  one  of  his  associates,  "  Do  you 
know,  my  father,  in  what  position  you  are 
leaving  us  ?  "     "  Yes,"  he  replied,  "  I  leave 


68      Regeneration  of  New  China 

before  you  a  door  which  may  be  opened  to 
great  merits,  but  not  without  much  trouble 
and  danger  " — a  statement  as  true  in  this 
twentieth  century  as  it  was  in  the  seven- 
teenth. 
Aims  and  Some    criticism    of    Ricci's    methods    has 

Policy.  been  offered  on  the  ground  that  he  was 
over-ready  to  meet  the  Chinese  point  of 
view  in  matters  of  faith,  that  he  accepted 
Ancestor  worship  and  the  Confucian  system 
as  consistent  with  Christian  principles,  and 
that  he  used  an  unexpurgated  Chinese 
phraseology  in  Christian  teaching.  It  is 
obvious  from  the  many  changes  of  attitude 
which  marked  Ricci's  career  that  he  was 
set  upon  one  thing,  namely  to  secure  a  foot- 
hold for  missionary  enterprise  in  China,  and 
to  this  end  was  ready  to  stretch  to  its 
utmost  limit  the  Pauline  example  of  becoming 
"  all  things  to  all  men,  that  he  might  by  all 
means  save  some."  Yet  Ricci  remains  one 
of  the  great  figures  in  the  Christian  missionary 
history  of  China. 

Under  Ricci's  successors,  Schall,  Verbiest, 
Pereira  and  others,  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  in  China  survived  the  change  of 
dynasty  that  marked  the  conquest  of 
China  by  the  Manchus,  and  succeeded  in 
making    some    notable    converts.    The    mis- 


Christianity  and  Great  Awakening  69 

sionaries    in    Peking    were   assured    of    pro- 
tection   by    the    enlightened    Manchu    ruler, 
Kang  Hsi.    Their  brethren  in  the  provinces 
were   less   fortunate,    but   were   nevertheless 
enabled  to  carry  on  their  work,  so  that  in 
the  early  years  of  the  seventeenth  century 
three  hundred  Catholic  churches   and  three 
hundred   thousand    converts    were    reported. 
Then    occurred    that    significant    event,    so 
well    known,    of    the    breach    between    the 
Dominicans  and  Jesuits  in  China  regarding 
the  term  for  God  in  Chinese  and  the  right 
attitude    of    the    Roman    Catholic    Church 
towards  the  ceremonies  of  ancestral  worship, 
with  the    consequent    appeal   to   the    Pope. 
Unwisdom  could  scarcely  have  gone  further 
than  to  make  an  appeal  to  a  ruler  in  Rome, 
ignorant  of  Chinese,  to  pronounce,  ex  cathedra, 
regarding    the    right    Chinese    characters    to 
be  used  to  express  the  idea  of   God.    The 
thought    of   an   appeal   to    a    foreign    juris- 
diction upon   any   subject    in   which    China 
was    concerned   was    one    which   the    strong 
Emperor  Kang    Hsi    was    bound   to   resent, 
An   appeal    on    a    point    involving    Chinese 
history    and    language    stung    the    literary 
monarch  to  the  quick.     Politically,  the  fate 
of  the  Roman  Catholics  in  China  was  there- 
by  sealed.    The   suggestion    that    in   Chris- 


7°      Regeneration  of  New  China 

tianity  there  lay  for  China  the  threat  of  an 
imperium  in  imperio  was  then,  as  ib  is  now, 
the  signal  for  bitter  hatred  and  persecution. 
Priests  were  exiled  or  martyred,  many  hun- 
dreds of  converts  were  put  to  death,  and 
although  the  Roman  Church  survived  the 
days  of  heavy  trial,  it  was  in  comparative 
secrecy  and  under  peril  of  extinction,  until, 
more  than  a  century  later,  the  first  political 
treaties  were  made  between  China  and  the 
powers  of  the  West,  and  France  took  under 
her  political  protection  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  in  China. 
The  Greek  Passing  reference  should  be  made  to  the 
China.  m  establishment  of  an  Orthodox  Church  of 
Russia  for  Chinese  converts  in  Peking  in 
the  year  1865,  as  the  result  of  a  treaty 
between  Russia  and  China.1  That  Church 
has  never  proved  itself  aggressively  mis- 
sionary in  China,  although  it  gathered  a 
certain  number  of  converts  together  in 
Peking.  Its  outstanding  claim  to  the  con- 
sideration of  students  of  missionary  history 
in  China  is  in  the  person  of  the  head  of  the 
mission  in  the  last  generation,  the  Archi- 
mandrite   Palladius,    who    became    a    noted 

1  In  1685  an  Orthodox  Church  was  secured  for  the  use  of 
Russians  resident  in  Peking  who  had  been  brought  into  that 
c.ty  as  captives. 


Christianity  and  Great  Awakening   71 

Chinese  scholar  and  historian,  and  who  has 
laid  many  under  debt  to  his  researches. 
Tins  Orthodox  Church  also  contributed  in- 
directly to  the  modern  evangelistic  move- 
ment by  the  translation  of  portions  of  the 
Scriptures  into  Manchu.  The  translation  of 
the  New  Testament  in  that  version  which 
George  Borrow  saw  through  the  press  at  St 
Petersburg  for  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Societv  was  the  work  of  a  member  of  the 
Russian  Foreign  Office  in  Peking.  This  version 
has  recently  been  reprinted. 

By  a  somewhat  tortuous  road  we  have 
followed  the  progress  of  Christianity  in 
China  down  to  the  great  revival  of  mission- 
ary effort  in  that  land  a  century  ago.  Though 
sometimes  almost  lost  to  sight  the  road  is 
there,  and  we  must  give  full  credit  to  the 
roadmakers. 

Into  a  resume  of  the  modern  era  of  mis-  channels 

m  .  .,     .  i  -1-    ■,     .  ,         OF  MODERN 

sions  m  China  it  is  scarcely  needtul  to  enter  mission- 
here  at  any  length.     We  are  more  concerned  enceINFLU 
with  the  bearing  upon  the  present  and  the 
future   of  the   forces  which  that   movement 
has  brought  into  being  in  China  than  with 
its    external    history.     When    Robert    Mor-  Morrison 
rison  landed  at  Canton  in  1807  there  were  ^"ion  Work, 
none  who   even  dreamed  of    the   wonderful 
effects  that  were  to  follow  the  activities  of 


72      Regeneration  of  New  China 

that  gifted  and  consecrated  life.  Difficulties 
far  greater  than  had  confronted  either  the 
Nestorian  or  the  Roman  Catholic  pioneers 
were  before  him,  but  his  singleness  of  faith 
and  purpose  carried  him  through  them  all. 
It  has  been  said  by  a  Chinese  of  high  position 
that  the  Revolution  in  China  began  on  the 
day  when  Morrison  started  to  translate  the 
Bible.  If  that  be  so,  then  all  those  who 
contributed  to  the  work  of  translation,  which 
was  the  supreme  gift  of  that  saintly  pioneer, 
must  be  brought  under  review  for  their  meed 
of  praise.  The  Roman  Catholic  translator, 
the  American  merchants  who  were  Morrison's 
first  friends  in  Canton,  Sir  George  Staunton 
and  the  East  India  Company,  and,  chief  of 
all,  the  Committee  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society,  who  by  a  grant  of  £10,000  for 
the  cost  of  translation  and  printing,  made  the 
early  years  of  work  possible, — all  these  were 
fellow-workers,  sharing  in  a  labour  greater 
than  they  could  realise,  or  even  foresee. 

Morrison  and  Milne  were  the  representa- 
tives in  China  of  a  religious  age  which  has 
been  reputed  narrow  in  thought,  though 
zealous,  and  limited  in  outlook,  though 
devoted.  Either  that  reputation  is  a  slander 
upon  the  past,  or  the  men  were  greater  far 
than  their  age.     It  has  been  suggested  that 


Christianity  and  Great  Awakening  73 

China  takes  men  of  average  ability  and 
makes  them  great.  It  certainly  provides 
scope  for  greatness.  These  two  were  the 
fruits  of  the  Evangelical  Revival  in  England, 
which  drove  men  out  into  the  service  of  the 
world  for  Christ's  sake  and  brought  men 
into  close  touch  with  each  other  under  the 
conviction  of  a  common  grace.  In  these 
facts  were  surely  enshrined  the  potential 
greatness  that  was  afterwards  revealed  in 
the  ideals  and  the  schemes  which  marked 
their  labours  and  their  hopes. 

It  is  only  in  the  more  recent  years  of  mis- 
sionary enterprise  in  China  that  Christian 
Missions  are  beginning  to  realise  the  statesman- 
like anticipation  of  Christian  service  that 
Morrison  and  Milne  held  in  view.  In  1812 
Morrison  thus  expressed  his  sense  of  the 
needs  of  missionary  enterprise  in  China — 
"  I  wish  that  we  had  an  institution  in  Malacca 
for  the  training  of  missionaries — European 
and  native.  .  .  .  There,  also,  let  there  be 
that  powerful  engine,  the  Press.  The  final 
triumphs  of  the  Gospel  will,  I  think,  be  by 
means  of  native  missionaries  and  the  Bible. 
We  want  a  central  point  for  our  Asiatic 
missions,  we  want  organised  co-operation,  we 
want  a  Press,  we  want  a  committee  of  mis- 
sionaries.   .    .    .   Such    a    Committee,    being 


74      Regeneration  of  New  China 

engaged  in  missionary  work  in  heathen  lands, 
would  have  means  of  judging  which  a  person 
in  England,  who  had  never  removed  from  his 
study  or  desk,  could  not  have.  They  would 
know  the  heart  of  missionaries."  Missions 
are  still  striving  to  accomplish  the  ideals  of 
Morrison. 
TheMaiacca  The  Malacca  Missionary  Institution  repre- 
andits  sented  the  embodiment  of  the  hopes  of  these 

OutUiook°nal  first  workers.  It  was  founded  in  1818,  and, 
although  in  many  senses  a  disappointment  to 
its  founders,  remains  so  much  of  a  revelation 
of  the  wide  outlook  of  the  great  Protestant 
pioneer  that  its  stated  object  and  methods 
of  work  are  worth  recording.  The  object  of 
this  college  is  "  The  reciprocal  cultivation  of 
Chinese  and  European  Literature.  On  the 
one  hand  the  Chinese  language  and  literature 
will  be  made  accessible  to  Europeans,  and  on 
the  other  hand,  the  English  language,  with 
European  literature  and  science,  will  be  made 
accessible  to  the  ultra- Ganges  nations  who 
read  Chinese  ...  it  is  hoped  that  this  course 
of  proceeding  will  ultimately  have  a  favourable 
influence  on  the  peaceable  diffusion  of  Christian 
principles  and  the  general  civilization  of  the 
Eastern  Hemisphere."  Those  admissible  to 
the  Institution  were  to  be  "  persons  of  any 
nation  of  Europe  and  of  the  Continent  of 


DEPARTED  GLORY 

An  old  Examination  Hall,  now  overgrown  with  weeds 


<  <  < 


o      • 


« 


Christianity  and  Great  Awakening   75 

America,  belonging  to  any  Christian  Com- 
munion, bringing  with  them  respectable  re- 
commendation as  to  their  moral  habits  and 
the  objects  they  have  in  view — native  youths 
of  any  of  the  above-named  countries  (China, 
Cochin  China,  Chinese  Colonies,  Loochow, 
Korea  and  Japan)."  No  religious  test  was  to 
be  applied  to  students,  but  the  whole  instruc- 
tion was  to  be  of  a  Christian  nature,  and 
Christian  worship  to  be  a  part  of  the  order  of 
the  College.  There  is  no  doubt  that  although 
the  Malacca  Anglo -Chinese  College  failed  to 
do  all  that  its  originators  intended,  it  gave 
a  trend  to  the  modern  missionary  enterprise 
in  China,  especially  with  regard  to  literary 
activity,  which  has  been  one  of  the  chief 
factors  contributory  to  its  success. 

There  is  still  another  feature  of  the  labours 
of  these  pioneers  which  has  had  a  striking 
influence  upon  the  progress  of  Christian 
Missions  in  China,  and  which  the  Chinese 
Church  is  likely  to  embody  even  more  than 
Foreign  Missions  have  done.  It  is  their 
catholicity  of  spirit  and  outlook.  Referring 
to  the  task  that  he  had  accomplished  in 
translating  into  Chinese  the  morning  and 
evening  services  of  the  Church  of  England 
Prayer  Book,  Morrison  goes  on  to  say,  "  The 
Church  of  Scotland  supplied  us  with  a  Cate- 


j6      Regeneration  of  New  China 

chism,  the  Congregational  Churches  afforded 
us  a  form  for  a  Christian  assembly,  and  the 
Church  of  England  has  supplied  us  with  a 
manual  of  devotion.  .  .  .  We  are  of  no  party. 
We  recognize  but  two  divisions  of  our  fellow- 
„  creatures — the  righteous  and  the  wicked ; 
those  who  fear  God  and  those  who  do  not, 
those  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and 
those  who  do  not.  Grace  be  with  all  them 
that  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity." 
If  the  spirit  of  union  and  co-operation  has 
been  most  fully  in  evidence  in  the  mission 
field  of  China,  as  is  claimed,  and  the  ideal  of 
a  united  Christian  Church  in  China  one  which 
the  Chinese  of  all  missions  are  united  in 
emphasizing,  we  may  remember  that  the  lead 
was  definitely  given  by  the  founders  of  the 
modern  missionary  campaign  in  that  land. 
Early  With    the    evangelistic,1    educational    and 

Missions  in   literary  enterprises  of  the  pioneers  there  was 
China.  linked  up  that  form  of  missionary  effort  which 

has  been  the  peculiar  glory  of  our  missionary 
era,  namely  Medical  Missions.  The  London 
Missionary  Society  followed  up  its  early  ap- 
pointment   of    Morrison,    Milne,    Legge    and 

1  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  although  preaching,  in  the 
ordinary  sense  of  the  term,  was  rendered  difficult,  if  not 
impossible,  for  those  pioneers  by  the  intolerance  of  the 
Chinese,  the  passion  to  proclaim  the  Gospel  far  and  wide  was 
the  impelling  motive  in  all  they  did. 


Christianity  and  Great  Awakening    jj 

others  by  sending  out  Dr  William  Lockhart 
in  1838.  Dr  Peter  Parker  of  the  American 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  the  man  who 
"  opened  China  at  the  point  of  the  lancet," 
was  already  in  the  field.  Lockhart  founded 
hospitals  at  Canton,  Shanghai,  and  Peking,1 
and  left  his  name  and  influence  writ  large  on 
the  missionary  history  of  modern  China.  "  In 
their  attitude  towards  Missions  as  first  pre- 
sented to  them  the  Chinese  were  far  more 
antagonistic  than  the  Western  atheist.  He, 
at  worst,  is  but  scornfully  sceptical ;  they 
were  bitterly  aggressive.  Yet  as  soon  as  the 
doctor  arrived  on  the  scene  all  was  changed. 
No  Chinese  who  knew  Dr  Lockhart  for  what 
he  was  ever  threw  a  stone  or  hurled  an  epithet 
at  him.  The  early  story  of  the  experience  of 
such  men  as  he,  Dr  Peter  Parker,  and  others, 
is  as  full  of  romantic  interest  as  the  adventures 
of  a  Mungo  Park  or  a  Captain  Cook.  Of  their 
work  it  was  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  '  the 
blind  receive  their  sight,  the  lame  walk,  the 
lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the  poor  have  the 
Gospel  preached  to  them.'  "  2 

From  the  days  of  Morrison  and  Lockhart 
the  campaign  of  the  Christian  Church  in  China 

1  The  Union  Medical  College  of  Peking  bears  the  memorial 
name  of  Loekhart. 

2  Old  Forces  in  New  China.    Lanning. 


78      Regeneration  of  New  China 


Social  and 
Political 
Influence 
of  Mis- 
sionaries. 


has  never  halted.  Its  progress  has  been 
varying,  but  the  story  of  its  growth  is  one  of 
consistent  advance.  Neither  political  hostility 
nor  religious  opposition  has  served  to  check 
it,  and  it  has  leavened  the  life  of  every  place 
in  China  wherein  it  has  been  set.  Nor  is  its 
influence  to  be  measured  by  its  statistical 
tables  and  its  direct  conquests.  Had  there 
been  no  Christian  influence  in  China  during 
the  stormy  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  to 
temper  the  estimation  of  the  forces  of  the 
West  in  Chinese  minds,  the  difficulties  dividing 
East  and  West  in  that  country  must  have 
proved  insoluble.  So  far  from  the  work  of 
missions  proving  in  the  end  an  added  difficulty 
to  diplomacy,  it  is  becoming  clear  in  retro- 
spect that  apart  from  the  presence  and  in- 
fluence of  the  Christian  missionary,  and  his 
work  as  teacher,  healer  and  friend  of  the 
Chinese  people,  the  gulf  between  China  and 
the  Western  world  could  not  have  been  bridged 
at  all.  Missions  have  presented  the  West  to 
China  in  a  light  quite  other  than  that  which 
the  display  of  material  force  has  shed,  and 
taught  the  lesson  of  another  life  than  that  of 
militarism  or  gain.  In  literature  missionaries 
have  shown  the  culture  of  Western  lands,  in 
education  they  have  exhibited  the  Western 
esteem  of  learning,  and  in  practical  philan- 


Christianity  and  Great  Awakening   79 

thropy  they  have  impressed  China  with  the 
force  of  a  "  religion  in  action  "  such  as  the 
Chinese,  more  than  any  other  race,  are  fitted 
by  constitution  and  history  to  appreciate. 
"  Agencies  such  as  these  have  opened  the 
eyes  of  the  Chinese  to  the  true  colour  of 
Christianity  and  justified  its  claim  to  a  large 
place  in  their  lives."  * 

It  has  been  pointed  out  that  in  hundreds 
of  Chinese  cities  the  only  possible  corrective 
to  the  wicke(J  stories  passed  from  mouth 
to  mouth,  and  printed,  concerning  the  vicious 
manners  and  uncultured  methods  of  the 
Western  barbarians  has  been  the  life  of  the 
missionaries  settled  in  inland  China.  Al- 
though on  more  than  one  occasion  the  religious 
teaching  of  the  missionary  has  provoked 
opposition  and  difficulty,  matters  sometimes 
inevitable  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  it  has 
invariably  happened  that  the  upright  conduct 
and  the  unfailing  helpfulness  of  the  foreign 
Christian  teacher  have  brought  a  new  concep- 
tion of  the  best  life  of  the  West.  A  leading 
British  statesman  in  China  has  remarked  that 
it  is  difficult  to  estimate  how  much  Britain 
owes  to  the  fact  that  over  so  large  a  part 
of  China  the  missionary  has  been  the  first 
Briton    to    come    into     contact    with    the 

1  M.  T.  Z.  Tyau,  in  Men  and  the  World  Enterprise. 


8o      Regeneration  of  New  China 

people.  It  took  the  average  Chinese  some 
time  to  lose  his  natural  suspicion  of  ulterior 
motive,  and  to  convince  himself  that  the 
missionary  in  his  midst  was  a  disinterested 
friend,  but  he  learned  the  fact  at  last  and  has 
since  proceeded  to  act  upon  it. 

How  much  of  the  desire  of  the  Chinese 
leaders  to  follow,  in  their  reform  programme, 
the  methods  of  certain  Western  lands  may  be 
set  down  to  the  influence  of  Christian  missions, 
and  how  much  to  the  pressure  of  the  purely 
material  civilization  of  the  West,  it  is  difficult 
to  estimate.  Western  civilization  is,  in  a 
sense,  a  missionary  agency,  and,  at  its  best, 
a  pioneer  of  the  Gospel  which  has  given  it 
greatness.  "  We  are  sure  that  commercial 
and  political  contact  with  Western  nations 
eventually  would  have  proved  sufficient  to 
cause  the  renaissance  of  Chinese  civilization. 
Nevertheless,  both  observation  and  history 
show  that  the  prime  cause  of  the  awakening 
of  China  was  the  missionary  and  not  the 
merchant."  1  It  was  to  the  missionary  that 
the  Chinese  turned  for  instruction  in  the  ideas 
which  underlay  the  material  might  which  the 
West  displayed.  The  maps  and  the  mathe- 
matical treatises  of  Ricci,  the  astronomical 
instruments  and  researches  of  Verbiest  and 

1  Bishop  Bash  ford,  China  Mission  Year- Book,  1912. 


Christianity  and  Great  Awakening    81 

Schall,  the  geographies  and  natural  science 
papers  of  the  early  Protestant  missionaries, 
the  general  informative  literature  which  pro- 
ceeded from  the  mission  presses  in  the  Treaty 
Ports  of  China  } — all  these  paved  the  way  and 
kindled  the  desire  for  the  more  recent  attain- 
ments and  incentive  of  the  foreign- educated 
student  and  the  Chinese  daily  press. 

Another  of  the  very  considerable  contribu-  interpreta- 

,•  p  sxi     *   ■  •  ••  iii       i        i  ,  tion  of  China 

tions  of  Christian  missions  to  the  development  to  the  West, 
of  modern  China  is  that  which  was  made  by 
the  part  played  by  some  leading  missionaries 
in  the  interpretation  of  the  thought  and 
history  of  China  to  the  West.  China  certainly 
knew  much  less  of  the  West  than  the  West  of 
China  in  that  disturbed  and  mutually  antagon- 
istic half  century  which  closed  the  eighteenth 
and  ushered  in  the  nineteenth  century,  but 
the  knowledge  that  Europe  had  of  China  was 
little  enough.  It  is  said  that  at  the  time 
when  Morrison  began  his  study  of  the  language 
there  was  but  one  living  Englishman  who 
could  speak  the  Chinese  tongue.2  It  was  left 
largely  to  the  Protestant  missionaries  to  unveil 
to  Europe  the  wealth  of  Chinese  literature 
and     civilization.      Dr    James    Legge,    who 

1  The  best-known  and  largest  of  these  are  the  Presbyterian 
Mission  Press  and  the  Methodist  Publishing  House,  both  of 
Shanghai.  2  Sir  George  Staunton,  Bart. 


82       Regeneration  of  New  China 

succeeded  to  the  Principalship  of  the  Morrison 
Anglo-Chinese  College,1  and  who  was  later  the 
first  Professor  of  Chinese  in  Oxford,  was  the 
greatest  of  a  great  band  of  scholarly  men,  the 
work  of  whose  lives  it  was  to  make  it  possible 
for  Europe  and  America  to  appreciate  the  best 
of  China's  past,  and  the  wonderful  possibilities 
of  her  present  and  future.2  Doctors  Wells 
Williams,  Bridgeman  and  Martin  of  the 
American  Missionary  Societies,  with  Doctors 
Medhurst,  Wylie,  Edkins,  Timothy  Richard, 
and  a  host  of  others  representing  Great  Britain, 
opened  to  their  countrymen,  by  their  trans- 
lations from  the  Chinese,  a  new  view  of  China 
and  her  people.  The  knowledge  so  given  was 
of  the  utmost  service  to  the  Chinese  nation  in 
succeeding  years,  gaining  for  her  a  considera- 
tion on  the  score  of  her  civilized  history  that 
was  lacking  in  the  earlier  and  more  ignorant 
years  of  international  conflict.  The  Western 
intellectual  world  has  been  tardy  in  its  acknow- 
ledgments of  all  that  it  owes  to  the  scholarly 
missionaries  who  became  the  interpreters  of 
China  to  the  occidental  mind,  and  it  is  even 
yet  early  for  China  to  appreciate  fully  how 

1  Then  (1843)  transferred  to  Hong-Kong. 

2  Many  of  the  Consuls  of  Great  Britain  have  also  been 
considerable  contributors  to  the  success  of  this  same  enter- 
prise. 


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Christianity  and  Great  Awakening   83 

much  was  done  for  her  cause  in  the  West  by 
the  labours  of  such  men. 

The  roots  of  modern  reform  in  China  were  Roots  of 
two-fold.     On  the  one  hand  the  revelation  of  china. 
China's  inherent  weakness  by  the  easy  con- 
quests  of   the   West   in   China,    and,    above 
all,  the   sweeping   victories  of   the    despised 
Japanese,  first  over  the  armies  and  navy  of 
the  "  Middle  Kingdom,"  and  later  over  Russia, 
opened  the  eyes  of  a  few  of  China's  leaders  to 
the  facts  of  the  situation.     On  the  other  hand, 
the  missionary   literature,   covering    the   full 
range  of  modern  education  and   knowledge, 
had  been  circulating  quietly  but  steadily  over 
the   whole   land.      Here   was   a   sound  basis 
upon  which  the  work  of  reform  might  be  built  Western  and 
— real    knowledge.     The    first    reformers    of  Literature. 
modern  China  prepared  their  programme  upon 
the  educative  ground- work  done  by  the  Chris- 
tian   missionary.     This    real    knowledge,    an 
inherent  part  of  the  Christian  propaganda  in 
an  uninformed  nation,  was  at  first  destructive 
in  its  influence;   then  in  the  hands   of  the 
Chinese  reformers  it  became  the  great  con- 
structive force  for  the  renewal  of  Chinese  life. 
"  These   (missionary   educational)   books   are 
not  confined  to  converts  or  inquirers.    They 
have  found  their  way  into  the  homes  of  the 
literati,  into  the  offices  of  the  industrial  and 

D 


84      Regeneration  of  New  China 

commercial  classes,  and  into  the  yamens  of 
the  officials.  More  than  that,  they  are  used 
as  text  books  for  official  examinations.  Every 
one  of  them  is  an  instrument  in  the  enlighten- 
ment which  it  is  one  of  the  objects  of  missions 
to  bring  about."1  Viceroys,  Governors,  and 
highly  placed  officials  throughout  the  land 
have  in  not  a  few  instances  been  subscribers 
to  the  publications  of  the  Christian  Literature 
Society  of  China  (an  organization  founded  and 
sustained  by  missionaries  and  their  supporters), 
not  because  these  officials  were  interested  in 
Christianity  as  such,  but  because  they  were 
sincere  inquirers  into  the  origin  of  those 
attainments  which  they  saw  to  be  fruits 
of  Christian  civilization  and  Christian  teach- 
ing. The  reform  spirit  in  China  was 
energized  by  the  informative  literature  of  the 
Christian  missionary  enterprise,  and  through 
it  the  intellectual  leaders  of  the  land  were 
brought  into  contact  with  the  message  of  the 
Gospel. 

The  example  of  the  printing  press  and 
publication  work  of  Christian  Missions  in 
China  has  led  also  to  the  building  up  of  great 
educational,  printing  and  publishing  establish- 
ments by  the  Chinese  themselves.  This 
branch   of   missionary   enterprise    owes   very 

1  Old  Forces  in  New  China. 


Christianity  and  Great  Awakening   85 

much  to  the  labours  of  Tract  Societies,  headed 
by  the  Religious  Tract  Society  of  London, 
which  began  its  great  work  in  China  more 
than  a  century  ago.1  "  It  was  reserved 
for  Christian  missions  to  confer  on  China 
the  peerless  boon  of  metallic  types  and  the 
power  press. "  The  most  notable  of  these 
native  presses  is  the  Chinese  Commercial 
Press  of  Shanghai,  founded  in  1895  in  a  small 
way  by  a  Chinese  named  How,2  a  Christian 
attached  to  the  American  Presbyterian 
Mission.3  Mr  How  gradually  extended 
his  business,  giving  special  attention  to 
the  preparation  of  school  text-books,  both 
Chinese  and  English,  building  up  a  series  of 
Anglo-Chinese  readers,  national  readers,  and 
other  modern  text-books  (both  original  and 
translated  works)  with  such  ability  as  to 
capture  the  bulk  of  the  school  trade  of  China 
by  publications  which  are  decidedly  Christian 
and  of  high  moral  value.  In  the  end  the 
printing  works  of  the  Commercial  Press,  now 
a    limited    Company,    managed    entirely    by 

1  William  Milne,  the  second  Protestant  missionary  to 
China,  was  the  first  agent  of  the  Religious  Tract  ^Society  of 
London  in  that  land. 

2  Mr.  Z.  F.  How,  the  managing  director  of  the  Commercial 
Press,  was  the  victim  of  a  political  murder  in  Shanghai  on 
January  12th,  1914. 

3  This  mission  possesses,  in  the  Presbyterian  Mission  Press 
of  Shanghai,  the  largest  Christian  press  in  China. 


86      Regeneration  of  New  China 


Public 
Preaching 
of  the 
Gospel. 


Chinese,  have  become  "  the  largest  and  most 
up-to-date  in  Asia."  x  Thus  the  biggest  and 
possibly  the  most  influential  printing  business 
in  the  whole  of  the  Far  East  is  a  derivative  of 
the  Christian  missionary  campaign. 

There  has  been  also  a  steady  influence  upon 
the  mind  of  the  common  people  in  the  land 
created  indirectly,  but  surely,  by  the  public 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  The  publi- 
cation of  the  message  of  the  New  Testament 
is  always  an  incentive  to  independent  thought, 
and  provocative  of  discussion,  not  merely  of 
the  topics  with  which  it  deals,  but  of  cognate 
subjects.  From  the  insistence  of  the  New 
Testament  upon  the  great  themes  of  righteous- 
ness, sin  and  redemption,  and  the  personal 
responsibility  of  the  individual  to  God, 
thought  is  necessarily  carried  to  existing 
conditions  of  life,  social  and  political  as  well 
as  religious.  The  declaration  of  divine  justice, 
that  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons ;  the 
teaching  of  the  value  of  the  individual  life  to 
the  Creator ;  the  doctrine  of  the  Divine 
Fatherhood  with  its  necessary  corollary  of  the 
brotherhood  of  man ;  those  and  very  many 
others  of  the  fundamental  assertions  of  the 
New  Testament  lead  very  directly  to  a  standard 
of  life  and  conduct  in  political  and  public 

1  Cf.  North  China  Herald.     January  17th,  1914. 


Christianity  and  Great  Awakening  87 

affairs   by  which  men  are  judged.     Such  a 
standard  of  judgment  has  come  once  again 
into  the  public  life  of  China  after  centuries 
of    comparative    desuetude.     The    Christian 
preachers  in  China  have  done  a  work  compar- 
able to  that  of  the  Wycliffe  friars  in  England, 
and  history  will  not  fail  to  accord  them  due 
credit.    Chinese  public  opinion,  save  in  rela- 
tion to  local  topics  and  events,  is  a  growth  of 
this  last  generation,  and  no  single  force  has 
done  so  much  to  provide  an  illustration  of 
the    means    for    cultivating    and    expressing 
public    opinion    as    the    declaration    of    the 
Gospel   by   the   preachers    of   the   Christian 
Church.    The  public  meeting  has  become  one 
of  the  significant  features  of  the  life  of  Chinese 
cities  to-day. 

The    relationships    and    influence    of    the  individual 
missionaries  with  individual  Chinese  have  also  ships  of " 
been   a   strong,   though   frequently   indirect,  ^•2flonanes 
agency   of   reform   and   enlightenment.      In  Chinese, 
days  not  long  gone  by,  many  missionaries 
could  tell  of  visits  paid  to  them  in  the  quiet  of 
the  evening  by  leaders  of  Chinese  life  who 
came  inquiring,  after  the  fashion  of  Nicodemus, 
concerning  the  secret  springs  of  knowledge 
and  power.    Boys  have  come  into  educational 
and   personal   relationship   with  the   foreign 
missionary,  and  have  thence  drawn  inspiration 


SS      Regeneration  of  New  China 

which  has  nerved  them  in  later  years  to  acts 
that  mark  them  out  as  leaders  in  the  new  China. 
Few  more  striking  incidents  are  recorded 
in  the  whole  history  of  missions  than  that 
given  in  the  life  story  of  Dr  Yung  Wing,  who 
was  the  leader  of  the  first  Chinese  educational 
mission  abroad,  and  under  whose  guidance  a 
number  of  young  Chinese  (amongst  whom  was 
Tang  Shao-yi * )  were  settled  for  study  in  the 
universities  of  America.  Dr  S.  R.  Brown,  a 
missionary  in  charge  of  the  Morrison  School 
in  Canton,  took  pity  upon  the  small  son  of  a 
Cantonese  peasant  woman,  educated  him,  and 
had  him  sent  abroad  with  three  other  lads  for 
university  ^education.  The  three  proceeded  to 
Scotland,  the  fourth,  Yung  Wing,  went  to 
America,  and  was  the  first  Chinese  to  graduate 
at  an  American  University  (Yale).  He  later 
attained  to  considerable  distinction  in  Chinese 
affairs,  and  became  the  agent  through  whom 
the  Chinese  Government  inaugurated  its 
policy  of  sending  picked  students  abroad  for 
courses  of  study.2  Thus  does  the  philanthropic 
act  of  a  comparatively  unknown  missionary 
link  itself  to  the  policy  which  has  been  so 
potent  in  the  awakening  of  China. 

1  The  first  Premier  under  Yuan  Shih-k'ai's  Government. 

2  A  detailed  account  of  Dr  Yung  Wing's  life  is  given  in 
the  World's  Chinese  Student  Journal,  September  1912. 


Christianity  and  Great  Awakening   89 

There  is  abundant  proof  for  the  state- 
ment that  the  Reform  Movement  in  China 
is  more  indebted  to  the  work  of  Christian 
Missions  than  to  any  other  of  the  forces  which 
have  contributed  to  the  internal  awakening 
of  the  nation.  So  far  as  the  Chinese  them- 
selves are  concerned  there  is  no  need  to  press 
the  claim ;  they  are  eager  to  acknowledge  it. 
H.  E.  Tuan  Fang,  one  of  the  most  enlightened 
Manchus  who  has  ever  held  office  in  China, 
said  in  1906,  "  Missionaries  have  borne  the 
light  of  Western  civilization  into  every 
nook  and  corner  of  the  Empire.  They  have 
rendered  inestimable  service  to  China  by  the 
laborious  task  of  translating  into  the  Chinese 
language  the  religious  and  scientific  books  of 
the  West.  They  help  us  to  bring  happiness 
and  comfort  to  the  poor  and  the  suffering  by 
the  establishment  of  hospitals  and  schools. 
The  awakening  of  China  which  now  seems  to 
be  at  hand  may  be  traced  in  no  small 
measure  to  the  hand  of  the  missionary." 
And  if  it  is  asserted  that  political  reform  and 
national  revolution  are  not  necessarily  the 
allies  of  Christian  progress,  that  in  them- 
selves they  are  no  evidence  of  Christian 
advance,  then  let  it  be  remembered  that  under 
the  old  circumstances  of  Chinese  life  reform 
was  bound  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  Christian 


90      Regeneration  of  New  China 

teaching,  and  that  the  forces  which  are  in- 
evitably awakened  by  the  Christian  Gospel 
were  bound  to  prove  revolutionary  in  old 
China.  The  governing  conditions  of  social  and 
political  (and  to  a  great  extent  of  religious)  life 
in  China  were  so  largely  anti-Christian,  that 
the  overthrow  of  much  that  had  held  sway  was 
a  necessary  prelude  to  regeneration.  The  old 
China  had  lost  the  genius  for  reform ;  it  was 
renewed  through  the  influence  of  Christianity. 
The  The  re- establishment  of  Chinese  public  life 

Task.ant  upon  a  settled  and  satisfactory  basis  of 
reasonable  progress  will  be  sure  just  so  far 
as  the  Christian  forces  that  have  helped  to 
overthrow  what  was  wrong  in  the  old  order 
of  the  nation  are  allowed  to  play  their  part 
in  the  work  of  reconstruction.  For  only  half 
the  task  which  awaits  China  has  been  accom- 
plished, and  that  the  easier  half  ;  it  is  easier 
to  demolish  than  to  build ;  for  building, 
the  architect  is  needed,  the  man  of  vision 
and  of  sure  knowledge.  China  calls  for  that. 
Vision  and  sure  knowledge  are  the  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  God.  The  Christian  Church 
has  done  much  for  China  in  the  task  already 
accomplished.  She  is  called  to  a  harder  and  yet 
more  glorious  task  in  the  China  of  to-day  and 
to-morrow. 


Christianity  and  Great  Awakening   91 


Supplementary  Keading 

For  a  brief  and  discriminating  study  of  Nestorian  and 

early  Roman  Missions  to  China,  Archdeacon  A.  E.  Moule's 

chapter  (Chap.  VIII.)  in  The  Chinese  People  is  best.    See 

also  the  article  on  "  The  Nestorian  Mission  in  China,"  by 

the  Rev.  W.  G.  Walshe,  in  The  East  and  the  West  for  April 

1909.  The  essential  facts  in  the  history  of  modern  missions 

are  concisely  stated  in  the  introduction  to  The  Chinese 

Empire,  edited  by  Marshall  Broomhall.     An  article  on 

Modern  Roman  Catholic  Missions  to  China  will  be  found 

in  The  China  Mission  Year  Booh  for  1913,  while  the 

Rev.  Lord  William  Gascoyne  Cecil  has  a  chapter  on 

them  in  Changing  China.     The  best  history  is  A  Century 

oj  Missions  in  China,  edited  by  M'Gillivray,  published 

in  Shanghai  in  1907,  and  now  not  to  be  had  in  England 

except  at  a  very  high  figure  ;    but  it  can  be  borrowed 

from  Mission  House  libraries.    Attention  is  directed  to 

the   historical    appendix   at   the   end   of    the    present 

volume. 

The  Histories  of  the  great  Societies,  and  biographies, 
especially  of  Morrison  and  Legge,  will  be  found  useful. 
The  Emergency  in  China,  Chap.  VII.,  summarises  well 
the  influence  of  Christianity  in  recent  events  in  China. 
Valuable  material  will  be  found  in  three  addresses  to 
the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  in  England,  given 
by  Dr  S.  Lavington  Hart,  Dr  W.  H.  G.  Aspland,  and 
Mr  M.  T.  Z.  Tyau  respectively,  and  recorded  in  Men 
and  the  World  Enterprise. 


CHAPTER  IV 


CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  NEW  ORDER 


What  is  the  new  order  in  China  ?  Is  it  an 
"  order  "  at  all,  or  simply  a  pose  and  a  veneer  ? 
reality  of  After  what  has  been  said  in  previous  chapters 
order.  concerning  the  root  conservatism  of  the 
Chinese  character  it  may  be  concluded  by 
some  that  the  changes  which  are  certainly 
passing  over  the  face  of  China  are  such  as 
typify  not  so  much  a  new  condition  as  a  new 
phase  ;  and  that  they  do  not  touch  the  heart 
at  all.  Some  of  those  who  are  close  observers 
of  Chinese  political  life  are  emphatic  enough 
upon  this  very  point.  "  The  assumption  that 
runs  through  most  of  the  books  and  articles 
written  about  China  since  the  professed  con- 
version of  the  Empress  Dowager  to  the  idea 
of  Constitutional  Government  in  1902  .  .  . 
postulates  belief  in  a  sudden  and  radical 
transformation  of  all  the  social  and  political 
institutions  of  the  Chinese  people.  In  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye,  it  seems,  fchey  have  been 
changed.  ...  To  accept  such  an  interpreta- 
tion of  the  present  situation  it  is  necessary  to 


Sceptical 
Observers 
and  the 
Reply  to 

them, 


92 


Christianity  and  the  New  Order    93 

assume  for  the  Chinese  people  as  a  whole 
definite  aspirations  and  fixed  goals,  an  all- 
pervading  instinct  of  patriotism,  subordination 
of  individual  to  national  interests,  and  authori- 
tative leaders.  Of  these  there  has  been  no 
evidence." x  If,  however,  it  is  indeed  true  that 
ideals  and  patriotic  instincts  are  generally  lack- 
ing in  the  new  movements  in  China,  very  much 
in  the  recent  developments  of  Chinese  lif  e  must 
remain  utterly  inexplicable.  Mere  material 
conditions,  although  undoubtedly  contribu- 
ting factors,  do  not  of  themselves  entirely 
account  for  the  successful  risings  of  1911-13. 
Such  wholesale  criticisms  of  the  new  move- 
ments in  China  go  invariably  hand  in  hand 
with  cynical  comments  upon  such  moral  re- 
form movements  as  the  anti-opium  crusade, 
anti-gambling,  and  so  on.  The  conclusion  of 
the  whole  matter  from  the  critic's  point  of 
view  is  that  out  of  new  China  can  come  no 
good  thing.  If  the  failure  of  individuals  to 
maintain  in  practical  life  the  high  standard 
of  their  spoken  profession  be  accounted  suffi- 
cient to  condemn  utterly  a  whole  movement, 
what  movement  in  history  could  ever  survive 
the  test  ? 

Without  doubt,  and  in  spite  of  manifest 

1  Recent  Events  and  Present  Policies  in  China,  J.  O.  P. 
Bland. 


94      Regeneration  of  New  China 

failures,  a  great  reform  has  been  accomplished 
in  the  life  and  outlook  of  China,  and  a  judg- 
ment based  mainly  upon  the  observation  of  its 
negative  forces  is  superficial  and  misleading. 
For  the  same  reason  it  is  unfair  and  misleading 
to  institute  a  comparison  with  the  revolutions 
and  conquests  which  have  been  the  occasion 
of  past  changes  of  dynastic  rule  in  China. 
This  is  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  China 
that  successful  revolution  has  owed  its  leader- 
ship and  aim  to  forces  emanating  from  a 
civilization  outside  Chinese  influence,  and 
largely  subversive  of  Chinese  methods.  In 
spite  of  the  emergence  of  certain  forms  of 
re-action,  and  of  the  disappointment  of  those 
whose  ideals  were  set  higher  than  their  powers 
of  attainment,  it  will  not  do  to  forget  that 
the  revolution  owed  its  incentive  to  the 
desire  for  reform  on  the  part  of  a  leading  few, 
more  than  to  a  mere  love  of  rebellion  on 
the  part  of  the  many,  though  the  forces  of 
rebellion  were  not  lacking.  These  reforming 
ideals  will  persist,  even  though  reaction  has 
its  passing  hour  of  triumph.  The  Presidential 
Mandates  of  Yuan  Shih-k'ai  in  1914  can  no 
more  suppress  the  spirit  of  reform  than  did 
the  Imperial  Edicts  of  the  Empress  Dowager 
in  1899  and  1900.  For  these  ideals  are  essen- 
tially moral  in  aim,  and  they  are  bound  in 


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Christianity  and  the  New  Order    95 

the  end  to  assert  and  vindicate  themselves. 
It  was  the  non-moral  element  in  the  recent 
revolution  that  led  to  its  eclipse.    Without  the 

TUT  | 

moral  forces  which  lay  behind  the  revolution,  Fo°rrc*s  be_ 
and  which  have  been  too  much  obscured  by  hind  the 
the  subsequent  errors  into  which  many  of 
the  original  leaders  have  fallen  or  been 
betrayed,  success  in  any  large  measure  could 
not  have  been  possible.  When  liberty  has  been 
purged  of  the  taint  of  crimes  committed  in  its 
name,  reform  will  rise  again  in  triumph. 

It  is  easy  enough  to  gibe  at  the  exaggerated 
language  in  which  the  hopes  and  ideals  of  the 
reformers  have  been  declared  to  the  world, 
easy  enough  to  point  to  the  undoubted  moral 
delinquencies  of  many  of  the  men  who  have 
been  in  the  van  of  reform,  to  cry"  Physician, 
heal  thyself,"  and  to  become  eloquently 
scornful  of  the  whole  anti-opium  propaganda 
because  certain  officials  and  even  leaders  of 
reform  have  not  been  free  from  the  suspicion  of 
making  money  over  illicit  opium  dealing,  and 
are  otherwise  corrupt.  There  are  many  black 
spots  on  the  face  of  the  sun  of  reform  in  China, 
but  the  sun  is  there.  It  is  not  so  many  genera- 
tions since  that  the  public  life  of  England  was 
thoroughly  corrupt,  offices  as  well  as  votes 
being  bought  and  sold  and  bribery  running 
through  much  of  our  system,  while  there  are 


96      Regeneration  of  New  China 

to-day  countries  in  Christendom  where  the 
public  life  is  notoriously  venial.  A  generation 
is  surely  not  too  long  to  ask  for  the  effective 
application  of  moral  reform  to  Chinese  official 
life.  In  spite  of  all,  the  ideals  of  reform  have 
found  acceptance,  and  that  fact  has  to  be 
explained  when  the  last  word  of  the  modern 
critics  of  China  has  been  spoken.  In  a  country 
which  has  always  been  practically  democratic, 
democracy  has  found  a  new  voice,  evils 
which  have  vexed  the  land  for  centuries 
past  are  being  publicly  attacked,  a  modern 
press  has  arisen,  for  good  and  for  ill,  and  the 
methods  and  ideals  of  government  are  the 
subject  of  comment  and  discussion  on  a  scale 
such  as  the  past  has  never  known.  A  leading 
newspaper  in  Central  China  has  recently  been 
suppressed  by  official  orders  on  account  of  its 
outspoken  denunciation  of  the  habitual  corrup- 
tion of  officials,  and  the  failures  of  the  Central 
Government  to  mend  public  evils.  The  new 
Press  laws  of  China  are  designed  to  "  muzzle 
the  Press,"  and  are  in  themselves  a  tribute  to 
its  far-reaching  power. 

A  sentence  in  the  Confucian  Analects  reads 
thus  :  "  The  Master  said,  '  He  who  is  not  in 
office  has  no  concern  with  plans  for  the  admini- 
stration of  its  duties.'  "  An  illustration  of 
the  practical  application  of  this  principle  is 


Christianity  and  the  New  Order    97 

given  in  an  incident  recorded  by  the  Abbe  Hue,1  patriot- 
when  on  their  journey  to  Peking  in  1851  cer-  social  re- 
tain  foreign  travellers  endeavoured  to  get  into  j^Ju. 
political  discussion  with  Chinese  companions  iSjK?  BY 
at  an  inn.  "  We  put  forward  all  sorts  of  tianity. 
hypotheses  in  order  to  stimulate  these  good 
citizens  to  make  some  observations  .  .  .  but 
to  all  our  piquant  suggestions  they  replied  by 
shaking  their  heads,  puffing  out  whiffs  of  smoke 
and  taking  great  gulps  of  tea.  This  apathy 
was  really  beginning  to  provoke  us,  when  one 
of  these  worthy  Chinese,  getting  up  from  his 
seat,  came  and  laid  his  two  hands  on  our 
shoulders,  in  a  manner  quite  paternal,  and  said, 
smiling  rather  ironically,  '  Listen  to  me,  my 
friend  !  why  should  you  trouble  your  heart 
and  fatigue  your  head  by  all  these  vain 
surmises  ?  The  Mandarins  have  to  attend 
to  affairs  of  state  ;  they  are  paid  for  it.  Let 
them  earn  their  money,  then,  but  don't  let  us 
concern  ourselves  about  what  does  not  concern 
us.  We  should  be  great  fools  to  want  to  do 
political  business  for  nothing.' "  It  is  no 
exaggeration  to  say  that  there  is  scarcely  a 
tea  shop  in  the  cities  of  China  where  that 
same  thing  would  not  have  happened  fifty 
years  ago,  and  scarcely  one  where  it  could 
happen  to-day.    An  awakening  of  interest  in 

1  Cf.  Chinese  Characteristics,  ch.  13.     A.  H.  Smith. 


9&      Regeneration  of  New  China 

national  affairs  is  one  of  the  significant  facts  of 
the  life  of  intelligent  China  of  the  present. 
Growth  of  The  growth  of  the  love  of  country  is  one 
PatrioSsm°f  °^  the  features  of  modern  Chinese  develop- 
ment, and  in  no  section  of  Chinese  life 
has  this  been  so  apparent  as  amongst  the 
Christian  community.  The  teaching  of  the 
New  Testament  concerning  the  duty  of  the 
Christian  to  pray  for  those  in  authority  has 
led  to  intercessory  prayer  on  behalf  of  the 
Government  and  all  in  authority  in  China, 
such  as  had  never  been  known  in  other  religious 
spheres  of  Chinese  life.  The  injunction  to 
"  bear  one  another's  burdens  "  brought  the 
Christian  Church  into  a  touch  with  the  con- 
ditions of  social  life  that  could  not  fail  to  have 
a  profound  effect  upon  knowledge  and  interest; 
and  the  ideals  of  righteousness  which  Christi- 
anity engenders  force  the  Christian  com- 
munity into  the  path  of  national  reform  for 
the  sake  of  the  redemption  of  society.  The 
reputation  of  the  members  of  the  Christian 
Church  for  zealous  and  disinterested  patriot- 
ism grew  very  rapidly  during  the  years  of 
reform  after  the  Boxer  outburst,  and  had  a 
very  considerable  bearing  upon  the  develop- 
ment of  the  patriotic  spirit. 

It  had  been  one  of  the  disheartening  features 
of  Chinese  national  life  during  years  not  long 


Christianity  and  the  New  Order    99 

gone  by  that  Chinese  were  found  in  consider- 
able numbers  ready  to  assist  the  army  of  a 
foreign  invader  in  time  of  war.  The  work 
of  the  Commissariat  in  the  Japanese  Army 
during  the  Chino- Japanese  war  in  1895  was 
made  easy  by  the  eagerness  of  the  Chinese 
to  sell  their  produce  to  the  foes  of  their  native 
land.  That  condition  of  things  is  not  likely 
to  recur.  The  recent  revolution  was  largely 
inspired  by  a  patriotic  zeal.  "  We  firmly 
believe  that  the  fundamental  idea  of  the 
revolution  was  patriotic,  that  its  object  was 
the  rehabilitation  of  China,  and  not  the 
enrichment  of  certain  of  China's  sons.  It  is 
well  to  feel  confident  on  this  point,  since  on  it, 
and  on  it  alone,  can  be  based  that  larger  hope 
for  the  future  which  all  patriotic  Chinese 
should  have,  and  which  all  their  foreign  friends 
share."  x  The  mere  fact  that  from  the  ranks 
of  men  educated  under  Christian  influence 
came  much  of  the  leadership  of  the  recent 
revolution  has  helped  to  create  the  conviction 
that  Christianity  produces  Chinese  patriots. 
The  official  Chinese  mind  no  longer  concludes 
that  a  Chinese  Christian  is  a  "  secondary 
foreign  devil,"  and  an  enemy  of  his  country. 
It  has  taken  more  than  half  a  century  to 
demonstrate   the  essential  patriotism  of  the 

1  Old  Forces  in  New  China. 


ioo    Regeneration  of  New  China 

Chinese  Christians,  but  at  last  it  has  been 
done. 

Christianity,  then,  stands  before  the  Chinese 
national  life,  as  at  present  expressed,  generally 
freed  from  the  taint  of  suspicion,  and  loosed 
from  the  old  shackles  of  official  hostility 
and  constraint.  Not  alone  by  the  gift  of 
Remedial      outstanding  Chinese  leaders  to  the  cause  of 

n°AntientS  Ref°rm  nas  this  been  accomplished ;  it  is 
Footbinding.  also  the  result  of  the  philanthropic  and  self- 
denying  service  of  many  of  Christ's  men  and 
women  for  China  and  the  Chinese  in  their 
hours  of  need.  The  modern  remedial  (as  well 
as  reform)  movements  noticeable  in  the  life  of 
the  nation  had  their  rise  almost  without 
exception  in  the  example  and  activity  of 
Christians.  The  anti-footbinding  movement 
first  found  expression  within  the  Chinese 
Church,  where  from  the  beginning  it  was 
generally  recognized  as  wrong  for  Christian 
parents  to  bind  the  feet  of  their  little  chil- 
dren, howsoever  deeply  they  might  have 
to  suffer  socially  in  consequence  of  their 
refusal  to  comply  with  accepted  custom. 
It  was  a  Christian  lady1  resident  in  China 
who  became  the  apostle  of  the  "  Natural 
Foot  "  Movement,  and  from  whom  this  benefi- 
cent reform  was  handed  on  to   Chinese  re- 

1  Mrs  Archibald  Little. 


Christianity  and  the  New  Order     101 

formers.     "  Probably  f  ootbinding  will  'go*  rori, : 
locally  and  fitfully  for  another  hundred  years, 
but  it  is  broken  for  ever,  and  will  go  out  of 
fashion."  * 

In  like  manner  that  outstanding  and  most  (jj) . Anti- 
wonderful  movement  against  opium  which  has 
rightly  laid  such  strong  hold  upon  the  popular 
imagination  was  both  in  China  and  abroad 
born  of  Christianity.  Probably  no  one  cause 
made  the  Christian  missionary  from  China  so 
unpopular  at  home  as  his  insistence  that  the 
connection  of  the  British  Government  with 
the  opium  traffic  in  China  was  anti- Christian, 
whilst  at  the  same  time  this  very  connection 
aroused  against  him  intense  hostility  in  China 
itself.  "  Take  away  your  opium  and  your 
missionaries,"  said  old  Prince  Kung,  "  and  all 
will  be  well."  Yet  it  was  directly  from  the 
Christian  Church  in  China  that  the  anti- 
opium  movement  sprang.  Before  officialdom 
had  been  brought  even  to  the  point  of 
asserting  that  an  opium  smoker  was  unfit 
to  hold  his  appointment,  certainly  before 
such  an  assertion  was  definitely  acted  upon, 
it  was  the  unvarying  rule  of  the  Christian 
Church  that  no  opium  smoker  could  be 
accepted  as  a  member,  and  it  was  within  the 
Church  that  the  attempts  towards  the  moral 

1  Studies  in  Chinese  Religions.     E.  H.  Parker. 


102     Regeneration  of  New  China 

and  physical  reformation  of  the  opium  victim 
were  first  made.  A  great  work  was  done 
under  missionary  auspices  in  Soochow  and 
in  other  centres,  by  the  establishment  of 
"  opium  refuges "  a  generation  before  the 
Chinese  government  or  gentry  thought  of  the 
task.  The  thousands  of  opium  refuges  now 
opened  over  the  whole  of  China  are  the  com- 
ment of  the  new  order  upon  this  exemplary 
work  of  Christianity. 
(iii)  Famine  Great  catastrophes  in  China  have  in  ages 
Relief. agUe  gone  by  slain  their  millions.  Flood  and 
drought,  alike  the  harbingers  of  famine,  have 
swept  over  whole  provinces  of  the  old  Empire 
and  left  them  almost  desolate.  Gifts  of 
money  for  the  afflicted  have  not  been  want- 
ing in  any  case  on  the  part  of  the  wealthy 
Chinese,  from  the  Emperor  downward ;  what 
has  been  wanting  is  personal  relief  service  of 
an  honest  kind.  Chinese  officials  have  been 
known  to  make  wealth  out  of  the  handling  of 
relief  funds  intended  for  their  fellow-country- 
men dying  of  starvation.  Modern  Christianity 
in  China  could  not  remain  inactive  in  such 
hours  of  need.  The  work  of  missionaries 
and  their  fellow  Christians  in  China,  foreign 
and  native,  in  collecting  and  distributing  alms 
and  food,  and  in  the  establishment  and  super- 
vision of  relief  works,  has  not  only  made  a 


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Christianity  and  the  New  Order     103 

profound  impression  upon  China,  but  has 
spurred  the  Chinese  themselves  on  to  works 
of  relief  and  prevention.  There  has  recently 
been  signed  an  agreement  between  the  Chinese 
Government  and  the  American  National  Red 
Cross  Society,  whereby  the  latter  is  to  act  for 
China  in  arranging  a  loan  of  £4,000,000  in 
order  to  carry  out,  under  foreign  supervision, 
a  conservancy  scheme  in  the  area  which  has 
seen  in  the  past  six  years  successive  famines 
through  periodic  floods.  This  act  is  an 
entirely  new  humanitarian  and  economic 
departure  on  the  part  of  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment. 

Similarly  the  growth  of  a  humane  senti- 
ment in  war,  expressed  in  the  Red  Cross 
Society,  which  has  done  so  much  for  the 
wounded  in  the  recent  revolutionary  conflicts 
and  has  met  with  such  high  commendation 
from  both  sides,  may  be  traced  to  definitely 
Christian  service.  From  the*  Christian  hospitals 
and  schools  of  China  went  forth  the  majority 
of  those  men  who  volunteered  for  this  self- 
sacrificing  work,  now  for  the  first  time  in  its 
history  an  integral  part  of  the  Chinese  military 
organization. 

The  recent  plague  in  North  China,  and  the 
impression  made  upon  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment by  the  preventive  action  of  the  medical 


104    Regeneration  of  New  China 

missionary  enterprise  in  Peking,  under  the 
staff  of  the  Union  Medical  College,  is  well 
known,  and  the  example  of  devotion  to  duty 
revealed  in  the  life  of  Dr  Arthur  Jackson *•  of 
Mukden,  touched  the  hearts  of  many  Chinese, 
notably  that  of  the  late  Viceroy  of  Manchuria. 
Such  striving  after  more  sanitary  conditions 
of  life,  attempts  to  instruct  the  Chinese 
populace  in  the  rudiments  of  hygiene,  and 
efforts  for  the  effective  amelioration  of  the  lot 
of  the  afflicted,  the  leper,  the  blind,  and  the 
insane,  as  are  in  evidence  in  China  to-day 
under  the  new  order,  have  received  their 
impulse  from  the  example  which  Christianity 
has  set  in  the  midst  of  the  people. 

It  was  in  summing  up  the  contribution  of 
Christianity  in  China  to  the  new  life  of  the 
land  that  a  Chinese  newspaper  (The  Peking 
Daily  News),  at  the  conclusion  of  an  English 
editorial  which  discussed  the  appeal  of  China 
for  the  prayers  of  the  Christian  Church  on 
April  12th,  1913,  wrote  :— "  The  request  for 
special  intercessory  services  must,  therefore, 
be  regarded  as  the  triumphant  and  final  vindi- 
cation of  missionary  effort  in  China.  Merely 
to  thank  the  thousands  of  devoted  men  and 
women  who  have  sacrificed  homes  and  comfort, 
and  too  often  life  itself,  to  bring  enlightenment 

1  The  Life  of  Arthur  Jackson,  by  A.  J.  Costain. 


Christianity  and  the  New  Order     105 

to  China  would  be  no  adequate  recognition 
of  their  services.  Their  blameless  lives  have 
introduced  a  new  standard  of  ethics  into 
China.  Their  schools  and  colleges  have  done 
more  than  anything  else  to  pave  the  way  for 
the  adoption  of  Western  methods  of  effici- 
ency and  honesty  in  official  and  commercial 
life.  Their  hospitals  have  relieved  widespread 
misery,  and  saved  thousands  of  valuable 
lives.     Their  religion  has  created  new  ideals." 

Turning  to  another  side  of  the  relationship  educa- 
of  Christianity  in  China  to  the  new  order,  it  is  develop- 
necessary  to  remember  that  the  recognition  duetto 
of  the  Christian  Church  as  a  teaching  organiza-  missjons. 
tion  is  a  matter  of  very  recent  years.     It  is 
true  that  from  the  beginning  of  the  years  of 
reform  certain  individuals  realized  that  there 
was  but  one  source  to  which  they  could  turn 
with    assurance    for    efficient    instruction    in 
Western  learning,  and  that  was  the  Christian 
educational  movement.    Not  until  1905,  when 
the  old  Empress  Dowager  finally  abolished  the 
ancient  examination  system  and  set  up  new 
educational  conditions,  was  the  mind  of  China 
really  turned  towards  the  study  of  universal 
knowledge.      As    recently    as    1901    it    was 
possible  for  Sir  Robert  Hart  to  say,1  speaking 
of  the  Chinese  attitude  towards  the  missionary 

1  These  from  the  Land  of  Sinim. 


io6     Regeneration  of  New  China 

change  in     enterprise,  "  The  Missionaries,  it  is  granted, 

Attitude  of  ,    ,  t  i  •       t  -i   • 

Chinese.       exert  themselves  to  do  good  in  various  ways, 
and   their    medical    benevolence   is    acknow- 
ledged with  grateful  appreciation,  but  the  very 
fact  of  their  presuming  to  teach  at  all  is  itself 
irritating."     Ten  years  later,  when  seeking  a 
school  for  the  education  of  some  of  the  members 
of  his  own  family,  President  Yuan  chooses  a 
Christian  educational  institution,1  and   later 
still  selects,  as  private  tutor  to  his  younger 
children,   a    Christian    missionary.     In   1912 
there  were  gathered  in  the  760  Colleges  and 
High  Schools  of  the  various  missions  in  China 
31,465  Chinese  students.     Many  of  these  were 
members  of  families  which  a  few  years  ago 
were    critical    and    hostile    in    relation     to 
Christianity.      With    the    consent    of    their 
people,  and  under  the  expressed  approval  of 
many  in  high  authority,  they  are   working 
under  a  school  curriculum  which  is  thoroughly 
Christian    and   which   includes   Bible   study. 
The  educational  influence  of  Christianity  in 
China  is  at  once  a  proof  of  the  existence  of  a 
"  new  order  "  and  of  the  position  which  the 
Christian  Church  occupies  in  relation  thereto. 
All  this  does  not  mean,  however,  that  the 
educational  task  which  confronts  China  has 
been  handed  over  to  the  Christian  Church  for 

1  The  Anglo-Chinese  College,  Tientsin. 


Christianity  and  the  New  Order     107 

fulfilment.     Such  a  condition  of  things  could 
not  be  expected,  nor  might  it  be  desirable. 
There  are  problems  enough  awaiting  the  atten- 
tion of  Christianity  in  China  without  that  of 
the  secular  education  of  its  youth  being  added 
to  them.     Education  is  not  the  prime  task  of 
Christians    in    any    land.       In    every    non- 
Christian   land,    and    particularly    in   China, 
evangelization  is  the   supreme   duty,  for   it 
alone  meets  the  deepest  need.    The  Chinese 
scholar,  moreover,  cannot  be  expected  to  con- 
fess himself  unequal  to  the  task  of  dealing  with 
the  educational  need  of  his   country,  given 
sufficient  time ;   it  is  essentially  his  business. 
At  the  present  moment  China  is  experimenting, 
often  rashly  and  sometimes  disastrously,  with 
educational  methods.     There  are  hundreds  of 
schools  and  colleges  existing  on  paper  in  the 
Government  Offices  in  Peking  which  have  no 
existence   elsewhere.     It   will   be   some   time 
before  authority  in  China  ceases  to  deceive 
herself  in  the  matter  of  issuing  instructions  to 
unresponsive  officials  and  others  to  do  certain 
things  which  cannot  yet  be  accomplished.  Only 
by  "  line  upon  line  and  precept  upon  precept," 
can  the  root  faults  of  the  old  China  be  eradi- 
cated and  the  new  order  find  its  best  self. 
In  the  opening  of  elementary  schools  China 
has  already  made  remarkable  advance,  but 


108     Regeneration  of  New  China 

education    will    continue     to     suffer     until 
honesty  and  practical  effort  take  the  place 
of  corruption  and  make-believe.     Neverthe- 
less the  new  day  in  education  has  dawned,  if 
somewhat  cloudily,  and  in  the  light  of  it  some 
of  the  contributions  which  Christianity  ought 
to  make  to  national  efficiency  and  well-being 
in  the  new  China  stand  clearly  revealed. 
The  Church      While,  then,  it  cannot  be  the  task  of  Christen- 
Training:  of   ^om  ^°  undertake  the  educational  work  which  is 
Educational  the  duty  of  the  Chinese  Government,  it  is  the 

Pioneers. 

privilege  and  opportunity  of  Christian  missions 
to  provide  the  men  and  women  who  are  to 
be  the  first  agents  of  the  Government  in 
that  enormous  enterprise.  The  demand  for  a 
national  system  of  education  from  the  primary 
department  to  the  university  makes  upon 
educated  China  a  call  for  teachers  which  it  is 
even  now  almost  impossible  to  meet.  Western 
and  Japanese  teachers  may  be  employed  in 
collegiate  and  university  work.  They  are  for 
the  most  part  a  temporary  though  necessary 
expedient.  But  they  can  touch  only  the  fringe 
of  even  that  problem,  whilst  old  China  was 
utterly  unable  to  cope  in  any  measure  at  all 
with  the  demand  for  teachers  for  elementary 
and  middle  schools.  It  is  at  this  point  that 
the  mission  school  has  stood  ready  to  save  the 
situation.     Christianity  has  provided  by  means 


Christianity  and  the  New  Order     109 

of  its  educational  work  in  China  a  certain, 
though  inadequate,  number  of  efficient  and 
available  teachers,  and  in  the  hands  of  these 
a  large  measure  of  educational  responsibility 
has  been  placed.  The  enforcement  of  Con- 
fucian worship *  in  Government  schools  under 
the  old  regime  kept  many  of  the  best  of  the 
Christian  men  from  accepting  Government 
appointments.  With  the  advent  of  religious 
toleration,  however,  the  door  was  opened  wide 
for  one  of  the  biggest  contributions  that 
Christianity  can  at  present  make  to  the  real 
progress  of  China,  namely,  the  training  of 
the  character  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
young  Chinese  upon  a  basis  of  Christian 
example.  Had  the  number  of  such  men  and 
women  available  been  ten  times  what  it  is 
to-day,  the  influence  of  Christianity  upon  the 
China  of  to-morrow  might  have  been  increased 
a  hundred-fold. 

How  great  is  the  opportunity  may  be  gathered 
from  a  review  of  the  statistics  of  Government 

1  It  should  be  noted  that  the  adoption  by  the  Government 
of  China  of  the  Confucian  System  as  a  basis  for  education  is 
not  necessarily  intolerant,  since  there  is  no  inherent  anta- 
gonism to  Christianity  in  the  Confucian  Classics,  although 
their  trend  is  somewhat  anti-religious.  The  moral  system 
of  Confucius  is  fully  acceptable  to  Christianity.  Intolerance 
is  chiefly  associated  with  the  enforced  worship  of  the  Confucian 
Tablet  in  the  schools. 


no    Regeneration  of  New  China 

Greatness  of  education  given  (in  the  China  Mission  Year 
£ni£PP°r"     Book  of  1912),  for  the  Province  of  Chihli,  a 
province  which  has  been  in  the  forefront  of 
education  in  both  Government  and  missionary 
policy.     "  There  were  214,367  students  of  all 
grades,  not  including  an  additional  17,000  in 
Peking.    The  Schools,  etc.,  numbered  1  Uni- 
versity,  1   Provincial  College,   10  Industrial 
Schools,  3  Higher  Normal  Schools,  49  Ele- 
mentary Normal  Schools,  2  Medical  Colleges, 
3  Foreign  Language  Schools,  4  Law  Schools, 
1  Physical  Culture  and  Music  School,  1  Tele- 
graph School,  8  Commercial  Schools,  5  Agri- 
cultural Schools,  30  Middle  Schools,  174  Upper 
Primary  Schools,  101  Mixed  Grade  Primary 
Schools,   8534  Lower   Primary   Schools,   101 
Girls'  Schools  and  179  Half -day  and  Night 
Schools."    All  this  was  the  growth  of  merely 
six  years'  organized  effort.     The  total  popula- 
tion of  the  Chihli  Province  is  computed  at 
more  than  twenty  millions  of  people.    There 
is  an  enormous  work  waiting  to  be  done,  and 
it  is  the  urgent  business  of  Christianity  in 
China  to  assist  the  Government  in  doing  it 
effectively  and  along  right  lines. 

Of  no  nation  is  it  more  true  than  of  China  that 
its  life  is  both  revealed  and  determined  by  its 
literature.  Literature  has  been  the  sole  basis 
of  its  intellectual  attainments,  and  intellectual 


Christianity  and  the  New  Order     m 

attainments  have  always  been  the  most  ad-  litera- 
mired    of  those   possible  to   men.      Neither  christian 
wealth,  nor  sanctity,  nor  exalted  position  is  JJJSb?" 
worthy  of  esteem  apart  from  scholarship  and 
the   culture    associated    with  book  learning. 
The   accepted    division    of    the   people   into 
classes  in  China  is  expressive  of  their  sense  of 
relative  values  ;  that  division  is,  1,  Scholars  ; 
2,  Farmers ;  3,  Artisans ;    and  4,  Merchants. 
No  force  unallied  to  literary  enterprise  has  Reverence 
ever  held  sway  over  the  Chinese  mind  or  kept  [uTe^ndfor 
the  nation  in  subjection.    That  "  knowledge the  Scholar, 
is  the  road  to  power  "  has  long  enough  been 
recognized  by  the   Chinese,   and  abundantly 
proved  in  their  history.     When  letters  were 
invented    by    a    mythical    Chinese    Emperor 
"  Heaven  rejoiced  and  hell  trembled."    Again 
and  again  the  outer  barbarian  has  made  his 
martial    conquest    of    Chinese    territory    and 
people,  and  China  has 

(<  Bowed  low  beneath  the  blast 
In  patient  deep  disdain." 

But  thereafter,  sure  as  the  sunrise,  has  the 
old  culture  of  the  land  quietly  and  com- 
pletely vanquished  the  barbarian  in  its  turn. 
Mongol  and  Manchu  alike  have  had  to  accept 
the  yoke  of  Chinese  letters  and  civilization. 
Force  has  never  of  itself  conquered  the  life  of 
the  Chinese  and  never  will. 


ii2     Regeneration  of  New  China 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  this  reverence  for 
scholarship  and  literature  is  not  altogether 
removed  from  mundane  considerations  of 
"  bread  and  butter."  The  civil  examination 
system  of  China  has  been  the  great  binding 
factor  in  public  life  through  more  than  a 
thousand  years  of  Chinese  history,  and  the 
doors  of  official  life  have,  in  general,  opened 
only  to  the  key  of  scholarship.  Every  gradu- 
ate in  the  Chinese  examination  system  is  a 
potential  official,  and  the  whole  gamut  of 
official  life,  from  the  petty  magistracy  of  a 
local  court  with  its  tawdry  show  and  mean 
profits  to  the  high  posts  of  Peking  with  their 
gilded  honours  and  recognised  peculations,  is 
before  him.  "  Endless  examples  are  available 
to  shew  that  from  the  humblest  circumstances 
.  .  .  men  might  rise  to  the  highest  posts  in 
the  Empire,  short  of  such  as  were  reserved  for 
the  members  of  the  Imperial  House." 

The  civil  examinations  of  China  exert  an 
influence  over  the  popular  as  well  as  the 
scholarly  mind  which  it  is  difficult  to  ex- 
aggerate. The  power  of  letters  is  a  super- 
stition. To  tread  under  foot  or  otherwise 
demean  a  written  or  printed  character  was 
sacrilege.1  How  could  it  be  otherwise,  when 
proficiency  in   the   "  Four   Books   and   Five 

1  Cf.  Giles,  The  Civilization  of  China,  pp.  229,  ff. 


Christianity  and  the  New  Order     113 

Classics,"  proven  knowledge  of  the  accepted 
annotations  and  commentaries  upon  the  same, 
and  skill  in  the  writing  of  elegant  essays 
and  examples  of  poetry  in  the  classical 
style  were  the  acknowledged  test  of  the 
scholar's  ability  to  preside  over  a  law  court, 
administer  a  county,  or  repair  the  ravages 
wrought  by  famine  and  flood  ?  In  the  result 
it  has  to  be  acknowledged  that  the  unnatural 
burden  of  intellectual  toil  which  the  scholar 
of  China  has  borne  has  by  no  means  destroyed 
the  wonderful  faculties  of  the  Chinese  brain, 
and  that  the  apparently  futile  system  has  been, 
on  the  whole,  valuable  for  its  purpose.  "  The 
immemorial  traditions  of  the  Empire  are  all 
in  favour  of  the  man  who  is  willing  to  submit 
to  the  toils,  that  he  may  reap  the  reward,  of  the 
scholar."  1  In  a  word,  although  the  method 
has  changed,  the  scholar  still  reigns,  and  the 
literati  of  the  new  order  have  replaced  the 
literati  of  the  old.  Scholarship  will  remain  at 
the  top  ;  technical  attainment  has  gained  for 
itself  a  place,  but  the  laurel  is  still  reserved 
for  literary  genius. 

No  force  in  modern  China  has  made  any  Difficulties 
literary   contribution   to   the   life   of   to-day  Sl^Sf* 
comparable  with  that  provided  by  Christianity.  Foreigner. 
This  is  the  more  remarkable  when  it  is  re- 

1  Arthur  H.  Smith,  Village  Life  in  China. 


ii4    Regeneration  of  New  China 

membered  under  what  disabilities  the  foreigner 
in  China  labours  in  the  matter  of  the  written 
language  and  classical  style  of  the  Chinese. 
The  old  Chinese  scholar  was  produced  only 
by  long  years  of  absorption  in  the  study  of 
Chinese  style,  undisturbed  by  excursions  into 
other  fields  of  learning.  How  could  a  foreign 
student,  whose  early  life  had  been  spent  in 
other  objects  of  intellectual  pursuit,  hope  to 
attain  efficiency  and  skill  in  Chinese  literature  ? 
The  gulf  between  the  Western  scholar,  the 
exponent  of  technical,  scientific  and  modern 
knowledge,  and  the  Chinese  scholar,  pedant, 
stylist,  litterateur  and  obscurantist,  seemed  at 
first  unbridgeable.  Yet  to  a  very  large 
extent  it  has  been  bridged,  and  as  the  result 
shows  to-day,  the  contact  is  made,  and  the 
interchange  of  intellectual  commodities  has 
begun. 
Literary  An  enormous  debt  is  owing  to  the  labours 

mentsof  °^  some  of  the  missionaries  of  an  earlier  day 
Mission-  ^q  have  been  adjudged  by  the  Chinese  them- 
selves  as  eminent  in  Chinese  literary  attain- 
ments. "  A  glorious  band,  that  chosen  few." 
Medhurst,  Bridgeman,  Wylie,  Faber,  Edkins, 
Schereschewsky,  G.  E.  Moule,  Chalmers, 
Young  J.  Allen,  Mateer,  Griffith  John, 
Timothy  Richard,  and  the  rest ;  the  memory 
of  their  work    is    golden.     Most    noticeable 


anes. 


Q 

w 

eu 

w 
SB 

- 

O 

0 

o 

w 

h 


»>,•>,-> 


j j,  j  >    j  j 


•  o  °  ;  '    • » V  •         •••%« 


< 


- 


Christianity  and  the  New  Order     1 1 5 

of  all  their  labours,  in  point  of  Chinese 
scholarship,  is,  perhaps,  that  of  Medhurst 
in  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into 
Classical  Chinese  in  the  version  known  as 
the  "  delegates'."  It  was  the  work  of  the 
delegates  under  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  but  the  lion's  share  of  the  work  was 
Medhurst's.  Few  pieces  of  literary  missionary 
work  approach  its  level  of  classical  attain- 
ment. Yet  Medhurst  and  all  that  fine  band 
who  followed  in  his  train  would  own  that 
all  their  efforts  would  have  been  vain  apart 
from  the  able  Chinese  who  were  their  fellow 
labourers.  The  Confucian  scholar  who  held 
the  pen  and  clothed  the  thought  of  the  Western 
translator  with  fitting  Chinese  garb — his  is 
the  glory,  too. 

So  it  happened  in  those  earlier  years,  as  it 
is  happening  to-day,  that  Christian  thought 
was  given  to  the  Chinese  world  by  the 
missionary  through  a  deputy  who  himself 
was  often  a  non- Christian.  The  Bible,  the 
tract,  the  educational  treatise,  the  magazine 
article,  the  school  text-book  have  been  given 
by  the  Christian  missionary  to  his  Chinese 
constituency  in  the  majority  of  instances  by 
means  of  faithful,  efficient,  non- Christian 
Chinese  helpers.  In  the  end  the  literature  of 
the  Christian  author,  at  first  despised  for  its 

E 


n6    Regeneration  of  New  China 

occasional  lapses  into  "  bad  form  "  (colloquial- 
isms), often  condemned  because  of  the  nature 
of  its  subject  matter,  still  pressing  forward, 
crude  and  aggressive  but  vital,  has  come  to 
its  own.  To  the  literature  of  Christianity  in 
China  and  its  determination  to  make  a  con- 
quest of  the  Chinese  intellect,  many  of  the 
features  of  the  new  order  are  due. 

The  Christianization  of  the  literature  of 
China  is  yet,  however,  far  from  being  accom- 
plished. Christianity  and  the  old  learning  do 
not  consort  well  together  ;  for  with  the  widen- 
ing of  the  basis  of  knowledge,  and  the  study 
by  the  Chinese  of  other  branches  of  education 
beside  the  Classical  Books,  there  has  been 
an  unavoidable  lessening  of  the  range  of  purely 
Chinese  knowledge.  The  Chinese  mind,  under 
the  old  system,  was  burdened  to  the  utmost 
limit,  and  the  study  of  new  themes  neces- 
sarily involves  the  throwing  over  of  at  least 
some  of  the  purely  Chinese  attainments.  The 
Chinese  who  to-day  are  eminent  in  both 
Western  and  Chinese  scholarship  may  be 
counted  upon  the  fingers.  There  are  not 
wanting  Christian  Chinese  who  are  capable 
scholars  and  efficient  in  the  writing  of  classical 
Chinese,  but  one  of  the  outstanding  needs  of 
the  Christian  Church  in  its  intellectual  cam- 
paign in  China  to-day  is  the  raising  up  of  a 


Christianity  and  the  New  Order     117 

body  of  Christian  experts  in  the  Chinese 
language,  who  shall  be  fitted  to  capture  and 
lead  the  scholarly  thought  of  the  land.  This 
is  especially  true  in  the  consideration  of 
journalism  and  the  need  for  a  Press  inspired 
by  Christian  knowledge  and  impulse. 

One  other  feature  of  the  new  order  in  China  forma- 
in   relation   to   Christianity   needs  attention,  public 
Public    opinion    upon    matters    of    national OPINION- 
moment  has  been  noted  as  of  recent  growth, 
and  in  the  previous  chapter,  the  bearing  of 
the  public  preaching  of  the  Gospel  upon  its 
formation  was  pointed  out.     The  training  of. 
leaders  of  public  opinion  is  not  merely  a  task 
for  which  the  Christian  Church  is  fitted,  but 
one  to  which  she  is  manifestly  called.    The 
masses  of  the  Chinese,  half-informed,  restive, 
and  expectant  of  change,  are  as  dry  stubble 
to  the  brand  of   the   demagogue.     And  the 
greedy,  reckless  demagogue  is  having  his  day 
in   China,   alike  in    the    press    and    on    the 
platform.     The    Chinese    Christian  preacher, 
trained  to  the  art  of  public  speaking,  informed 
with  real  knowledge  of  affairs,  steadied  by  a 
sense  of  responsibility  to  God,  and  fired  by  a 
love  for   men  in  the  spirit  of   Jesus   Christ  Power  of  the 
and  zeal  for  their  salvation,  is  the  man  above  Preacher* 
all  others  to  whom  is  committed  to-day  a 
great   and  far-reaching  task.    For  the  time 


Need  of  the 
New  Order 
for  the    i 
Prophet. 


118     Regeneration  of  New  China 

being,  other  and  less  worthy  elements  in  Chinese 
life  are  coming  to  the  front,  other  gods  will 
have  their  day  of  dominion  over  the  hearts 
and  minds  of  the  Chinese  people  ;  it  is  still, 
however,  the  supreme  duty  and  opportunity 
of  the  Chinese  Church,  through  the  work  of 
public  preaching,  to  lead  the  body  of  Chinese 
opinion  into  the  way  of  true  life. 

The  old  order  in  China  would  not  open  its 
ears  to  the  word  of  God  ;  the  new  order  has 
its  ears  open,  but  is  assailed  by  a  thousand 
voices  ;  it  needs  the  speech  of  the  prophet, 
the  man  God-sent  and  God-inspired,  who 
shall  say  in  the  tones  of  authority  and  love, 
"  Thus  saiih  the  Lord." 


Supplementary  Reading 

Dr  Hawks  Pott  lias  three  useful  chapters  on  "  Social 
Transformation,"  "  The  New  Education,"  and  "  The 
Influence  of  Christianity "  respectively  in  The  Emer- 
gency in  China,  and  Lord  William  Gascoyne-Cecil's 
section  on  "  The  New  and  the  Old  Learning  "  in  Changing 
China  puts  the  case  for  Christian  universities. 

The  Educational  Conquest  oj  the  Far  East,  though 
written  before  the  recent  drastic  changes  in  China,  will 
repay  reading  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  history  of 
educational  missions  and  the  ideals  before  them.  Vol.  III. 
of  the  Edinburgh  Conference  Report — Christian  Educa- 
tion— is  most  useful,  and  Mr  Eddy's  chapters  on  China  in 
The  New  Era  in  Asia  are  valuable  here. 


Christianity  and  the  New  Order     119 

In  The  China  Mission  Year  Booh  for  1912  there  is  an 
illuminating  article  on  "  The  Secular  Chinese  Press," 
and  the  Reports  of  the  Christian  Literature  Society  for 
China  will  be  found  full  of  fact  and  suggestion  concerning 
the  books,  periodicals,  and  newspapers  of  the  New  China. 
Chaps.  IX.  to  XII.  of  Wells  Williams'  Middle  Kingdom 
should  not  be  overlooked. 

The  article  on  "China  and  Medical  Missions,"  by 
W.  H.  G.  Aspland,  M.D.,  in  The  East  and  the  West  for 
April  1913  should  be  read. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   CHRISTIAN   CHURCH   AND   THE 
HERITAGE  OF   THE   PAST   IN   CHINA 


CHAR- 
ACTER. 


traits  of  It  has  always  been  said  of  the  Chinese 
(and  with  considerable  truth)  that  they  have 
a  "  keen  eye  for  a  good  bargain."  In  the 
earlier  days  of  international  relationships,  the 
cold  contempt  in  which  the  foreigner  was 
held  by  the  Chinese  did  not  prevent  the 
Chinese  merchant  from  doing  very  profitable 
business  with  him.  A  leading  British 
merchant  once  expressed  his  commercial  ex- 
perience in  China  thus  : — "  In  business,  the 
Chinaman  has  absolutely  no  prejudice :  the 
only  question  for  him  is,  does  the  business 
pay  ?  "  It  is  not  only  upon  the  consideration 
of  commercial  matters  that  the  Chinese  brings 
to  bear  the  test  of  use  and  profit.  He  comes 
to  the  question  of  religion  with  the  same 
utilitarian  enquiry  in  his  mind.  Nor  can  the 
enquiry  be  resented.  Even  though  it  is  not 
the  highest  form  of  religious  research,  it  is 
legitimate  in  its  sphere,  and  one  of  the  tasks 
of  Christianity  in  China  has  been  to  prove  that 


Utilitarian- 
ism and 
Practical 
Test  in 
Religion. 


120 


Church  and  China's  Past  Heritage    121 

profit  of  the  highest  kind*  attaches  to  the 
practice  of  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  The  mag- 
nificent success  of  medical  work  in  China  as 
an  agency  of  Christian  missions  has  been 
largely  due  to  the  special  appeal  its  form  of 
service  makes  to  the  practical  Chinese  mind. 
Christianity  has  emerged  with  triumph  from 
the  utilitarian  enquiry  to  which  the  Chinese 
have  submitted  it  because  it  has  produced 
the  incontrovertible  proofs  of  godly  living 
and  good  works,  and  presented  an  apologetic 
not  of  argument  but  of  fact.  That  Christi- 
anity helps  men  and  women  to  make  the  best 
of  both  worlds  is  conceded  generally  by  the 
Chinese,  even  by  those  who  deny  its  claim 
to  be  the  universal  religion. 

The  basis  upon  which  the  Chinese,  in  ac- 
cordance with  their  inherited  temperament 
and  intellectual  habit,  form  their  religious 
judgments  is  not  one  with  which  problems 
of  doctrine,  or  philosophy,  or  relationship  to 
truth  in  the  abstract  have  any  deep  concern. 
Not  that  philosophers  or  ethical  teachers  have 
been  wanting  in  China,  but  rather  have  they 
been  treated  seriously  only  in  so  far  as  they 
have  dealt  with  problems  of  common  life  and 
conduct.  Comparative  study  on  the  basis  of 
the  material  already  in  possession  has  been  the 
method  of  enquiry,  and  the  conclusions  have 


122    Regeneration  of  New  China 

been  drawn  in  accordance  with  the  result  of 
it.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  there  are  tens  of 
thousands  of  educated  Chinese  who  are  ready 
to  commend  the  faith  of  Christianity  though 
they  have  no  thought  of  practising  the  same. 
A  general  intellectual  approval  of  practical 
Christianity  has  been  secured,  as  contempt  has 
given  way  to  suspicion,  suspicion  to  enquiry, 
and  enquiry  to  goodwill. 

At  the  outset,  therefore,  the  Christian 
Church  has  before  it  in  the  very  attitude 
of  the  Chinese  mind  to  religion  a  tremendous 
problem  and  task.  What  is  to  be  done  for 
people  whose  inherited  tendency  is  to  mistake 
approval  for  faith,  and  patronage  or  support 
for  discipleship — men  and  women  in  whose 
religious  life  the  instinct  for  the  divine  and 
for  the  cultivation  of  the  spirit  has  in  the 
course  of  the  ages  been  overlaid  by  considera- 
tions of  worldly  good  and  problems  of  daily 
living  ?  "  We  do  not  know  life,  how  then 
can  we  know  death  ?  "  Here  is  found  that 
vein  of  materialism  which  is  so  strongly  marked 
Lack  of  in  the  Chinese  character,  due  to  the  effects 
Danger  o/  of  Confucian  teaching  through  the  centuries, 
Formalism.  ancj  wnicn  is  in  deed  and  truth  the  real  "  yellow 
peril."  If  Christianity  had  been  only  a  matter 
of  conduct  and  moral  precept  the  task  were 
simple  enough.     It  is  the  spiritual  aspect  of  the 


•  * 


>  »• 


I  J»1  « 


3*  J 


.  »      J       >  t» 


THE    "WILLOW-PATTERN"    TEA-HOUSE 


Church  and  China's  Past  Heritage    123 

Christian  propaganda  that  creates  at  once  the 
difficulty  and  the  opportunity.  It  is  the  task 
of  the  Christian  Gospel  to  revive  in  China  the 
true  soul-life  of  her  spiritually  slumbering 
people.  The  ideal  man  of  Confucius  is  not 
necessarily  a  religious  man,  the  perfecting  of 
the  life  of  the  soul  was  outside  the  Confucian 
view,  and  to  the  Christian  Church  has  been 
committed  the  great  work  of  filling  out  the 
Sage's  ideal  of  the  "  proper  man  "  by  the 
teaching  of  the  life  of  the  spirit,  "  till  we  all 
come  to  the  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure 
of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ." 

Within  the  Christian  Church  of  China  it 
has  been  only  exceptionally  the  case  that  a 
spiritual  conversion  has  preceded  the  attach- 
ment of  the  Chinese  to  the  Gospel.  There 
are  not  many  instances  on  record,  in  com- 
parison with  the  whole  number  of  Christian 
converts,  in  which  a  deep  sense  of  sin  or  a 
longing  for  God  has  been  awakened  by  the 
first  hearing  of  the  Gospel  message  so  that 
the  hearer  has  been  "  compelled  to  come  in."  x 
Yet  there  are  such  cases,  and  it  would  seem  as 
if  now,  with  the  growth  of  a  general  knowledge 
of  Christianity  among  the  people,  the  number 
of    converts  who    really    have    "  experienced 

1  Cf.    Mission  Problems  and  Mission  Methods  in  S.   China. 
J.  Campbell  Gibson,  chap.  vii. 
E* 


124     Regeneration  of  New  China 

conversion  '  is  increasing.  The  accounts  of 
recent  revival  movements  in  China,  whilst 
they  need  careful  enquiry  and  cautious  use 
in  illustration  of  the  point,  do  certainly  shew 
that  in  instances  where  a  body  of  Christian 
people  has  been  manifestly  moved  by  spiritual 
feeling,  heathen  in  the  congregation  also 
have  been  led  to  conviction,  repentance  and 
faith.  It  is  not  mainly  under  the  stress  of 
such  spiritual  conviction,  however,  that 
members  have  hitherto  come  into  the  Chinese 
Christian  Churches. 

On  the  one  hand  there  has  been  the  in- 
tellectual conviction  to  which  reference  has 
already  been  made.  The  logic  of  the  case  for 
such  a  God  as  Christians  worship,  the  reason- 
ableness of  the  revelation  in  Jesus  Christ,  and 
the  acknowledged  failure  of  idolatry  to  heal 
the  wounds  of  the  heart  or  to  succour  in  time 
of  need,  bring  very  many  to  a  belief  in  the 
Christian  message  and  to  an  association  with 
the  Christian  Church.  To  these,  later,  as  they 
follow  on  in  the  steps  of  the  Christian  life, 
come  the  inner  conviction  and  the  sense  of 
personal  communion,  and  definite  religious  ex- 
perience is  made  their  own.  Yet  still  there 
are  many  who  do  not  pass  very  far  beyond 
the  stage  of  intellectual  acceptance,  to  whom 
the  New  Testament  is  the  record  simply  of 


Church  and  China's  Past  Heritage    125 

a  fact  in  history,  and,  as  it  were,  a  moral 
textbook,  who  do  not,  in  a  word,  escape  the 
shackles  of  the  old  formal  life,  though  they 
have  turned  it  into  a  new  road.  Because 
Confucianism  is  a  system  which  can  be 
externally  accepted  and  lived,  and  because 
Buddhism  and  Taoism  in  China  receive  their 
adherents  without  making  claims  upon  them 
for  spiritual  experience,  formalism  is  one  of 
the  dangers  attendant  upon  Christianity  in 
China,  as  a  heritage  of  the  past  influencing  the 
Christian  present. 

On  the  other  hand,  that  credulity  which  Credulity : 
is  the  child  of  superstition  has  been  the  superstition, 
occasion  of  bringing  numbers  of  Chinese  of 
the  simpler  type  into  the  realm  of  Christian 
Church  life  in  the  first  instance.  To  these 
in  their  pre-Christian  days  religion  has  been 
chiefly  spiritism,  and  their  worship  largely 
a  propitiation  of  the  dread  forces  of  potential 
evil  in  nature  or  of  the  spirits  of  the  dead. 
Through  fear  of  death  they  have  been  all 
their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage,  and  they 
have  become  the  easy  victims  of  those  quack 
doctors  of  the  spirit  in  China,  the  Taoist 
priests.  Incantations,  charms,  works  of  merit, 
offerings  of  paper  money,  incense-burning, 
pilgrimages,  fortune -telling,  wizardry,  and  so 
on,  have  been  their   means  of  religious  ex- 


126    Regeneration  of  New  China 

pression.     Through  the  cruder  life  of  China's 
millions  this  credulity  has  run  far  enough  ; 
few  are  really  free  from  it ;    even  the  late 
Empress  Dowager  Tsu-Hsi  found  it  easy  to 
credit  the  story  that  the  initiatory  rites  and 
magic  swords  of  the  Boxers  gave  them  im- 
munity from  foreign  bullets.     Set  free  from 
the  baser  forms  of  superstition  by  faith  in 
the  Gospel  it  is  not  all  at  once  that  such  as 
these  lose  the  idea  of  Christianity  as  a  kind 
of  greater  magic,  and  find  the  true  life  of  the 
Spirit  which  Christ  bestows.     Stories  of  the 
use  of  the  Bible,  Prayer  Book,  or  Christian 
tracts   as   spiritual   weapons   of   offence   and 
defence    are    common    to    every    missionary. 
They  are  credited  with  the  magical  properties 
which  it  is  the  province  of  religion  to  bestow. 
Thus  the  danger  of   superstition  inside  the 
Church  is  a  real  one.     It  has,  indeed,  within 
it  an  element  which  is  of  true  service  in  the 
Christian  life,  deepening,  at  times,  the  living 
faith  in  prayer,  and  the  sense  of  assurance  in 
dealing  with  problems  of  demon-possession  such 
as   the   average   Chinese  thoroughly  believes 
in,  and  such  as  Christian  preachers  are  fre- 
quently  enough  called    upon    to    deal   with. 
Nevertheless  its  nature  is  derogatory  to  the 
steady  growth  of  Christian  life  and  the  progres- 
sive development  of  the  Christian  community. 


Church  and  China's  Past  Heritage    127 

From  what  may  be  termed  the  communal  Lack  of 
side  of  Chinese  life  there  are  also  heritages  D^ng-ef of 
of  character,  some  of  which  are  a  source  of  Selfishness 

and  Indiner- 

danger   to  the  life  of  the  Christian  Church,  ence. 
One  such  is  the  lack  of  public  spirit  on  the 
part  of  the  individual,  and  the  relegation  of 
all  public  duties  to  the  officials  who  are  paid 
to  look  after  them.    In  the  course  of  history 
this   has   resulted   in   the  development  of    a 
character-trait  which  makes   men  indifferent 
to  the  common  weal.     The  regular  upkeep  of 
roads,  repair  of   bridges,  removal    of    public 
nuisances,  combination  of  effort  in  checking 
infectious  diseases,  provision  of   asylums  for 
the  infirm  and  insane,  these  and  all  the  other 
duties  which  in  modern  civilized  communities 
fall  upon  the  voluntary  public  bodies   are  in 
China  conspicuous  by  their  absence.     It  has 
been  literally  true  that  "  what  is  everybody's 
business  is  nobody's  concern,"  and  although 
at  the  present  time  the  growth  of  the  spirit  of 
local   and  national   patriotism  is   having  its 
favourable  effect  upon  this   side  of  Chinese 
life,  there  is  an  enormous  amount  of  leeway 
to  make  up  ere  the  Christian  injunction  "  bear 
ye  one  another's  burdens  "  is  accepted  and 
fulfilled. 

Within  the  Christian  Church  this  trait  of 
character  frequently  reveals  itself  in  a  lack  of 


128     Regeneration  of  New  China 

earnest  interest  in  the  conversion  of  others. 
A  surprising  proportion  of  the  membership 
of  the  Christian  Church  of  China  is  made  up 
of  men  ;  there  has  been  a  tendency  on  the 
part  of  husbands,  sons,  and  brothers  to  leave 
the  women  out  of  account.  A  man  may  be 
deeply  interested  in  the  conversion  of  his 
father  or  brother,  and  forget  the  claims  of  his 
wife.  A  characteristic  weakness  is  revealed 
in  the  disposition  to  leave  the  aggressive  side 
of  evangelistic  work  to  those  who  are  paid  to 
look  after  it,  namely  the  pastors  and  evangel- 
ists in  the  employ  of  the  Church.  The  accept- 
ance of  personal  and  direct  responsibility  for 
evangelistic  service  will  only  accompany  the 
eradication  of  the  old  attitude  of  "it  is  not 
my  concern "  taken  by  the  Christian  con- 
stituency in  China  towards  all  affairs  of 
common  interest. 
social  and      In    addition    to    the    reforming    influence 

RELIGIOUS  . 

custom.  ~  that  the  Gospel  of  Christ  must  exert  upon 
the  inherited  characteristics  which  hinder  the 
due  attainment  of  Christian  character  in  the 
Church  and  in  the  individual  believer,  there 
are  aspects  of  Chinese  life  as  a  heritage  from 
the  past  which  Christianity  has  to  fight 
uncompromisingly.  The  conflict  of  Chris- 
tianity with  such  admitted  national  evils  as 
opium-smoking  and   footbinding  has  already 


Church  and  China's  Past  Heritage    T29 

been  referred  to.  Another  such  evil  is  that 
of  gambling,  which,  in  one  form  or  other, 
has  an  extraordinary  hold  upon  the  Chinese. 
Lotteries  and  Gaming  Clubs  (not  infrequently  Gambling, 
established  for  charitable  purposes,  and,  in 
consequence,  presenting  special  temptations 
to  Chinese  Christians)  have  to  be  kept  outside 
the  sphere  of  organized  Christian  life.  If 
they  are  not,  the  spiritual  life  of  the  Church 
must  be  imperilled. 

The  evil  system  of  concubinage  and  poly-  Concubinage 
gamy,  the  former  recognized  by  both  custom  gamy .  y 
and  law,  the  second  illegal  but  only  too 
common,  especially  in  the  case  of  the  childless 
and  well-to-do,  is  another  of  the  vicious 
inheritances  of  Chinese  life  with  which  Christi- 
anity can  make  no  terms.  The  assumption  of 
ancestor-worship,  that  only  sons  have  power 
to  carry  on  the  needful  care  of  the  spirits 
of  the  dead,  has  led  to  the  conclusion  on 
the  part  of  parents  that  they  are  disgraced 
and  their  future  imperilled  by  failure  to 
secure  male  offspring.  Between  this  un- 
natural conclusion  and  the  inferior  position 
of  women  in  general  in  China,  as  well  as  the 
evil  of  early  marriage,  there  is  a  direct  con- 
nection. As  a  result,  the  lack  of  sons  on  the 
part  of  a  wife  is  one  of  the  recognized  reasons 
for    divorce   in   China,    and   the   practice   of 


130    Regeneration  of  New  China 

concubinage  is  often  enough  excused  on  the 
ground  of  a  legitimate  desire  to  secure  beyond 
a  doubt  the  worship  of  the  grand-parental 
spirits  by  numerous  male  offspring.  For  this 
vicious  and  unjust  practice  the  Imperial  Courts 
of  China  have  conspicuously  paved  the  way. 

Occasionally  cases  which  are  extremely 
difficult  to  settle,  and  which  seem  to  involve 
considerable  hardship,  are  met  with  in  the 
Church.  It  sometimes  happens  that  a  man 
has  more  than  one  wife,  or  a  "  secondary  " 
wife  is  converted,  and  has  to  face  the  ques- 
tion with  the  Church  concerned  as  to  the 
moral  and  truly  Christian  line  of  conduct1 
But  whatever  decision  is  reached  in  such 
cases  they  can  never  be  allowed  to  obscure 
the  judgment  or  to  compromise  the  position 
of  Christianity  in  relation  to  the  moral  prin- 
ciples involved.  W  ithin  the  Christian  Church 
in  China  there  can  be  no  departure  from  the 
standard  of  the  Christian  doctrine,  backed  as 
it  is  by  the  highest  Chinese  ethical  standards, 
namely,  that  concubinage  is  immoral,  and 
polygamy  both  immoral  and  illegal. 

Yet  one  more  of  the  gigantic  evils  handed 
down  from  the  past  in  China,   which  that 


1  The  writer  has  met  with  one  such  case  in  which  as  a 
result  of  the  study  of  the  Old  Testament  the  man  quoted 
Abraham  in  defence  of  his  position. 


P'  :.\ 


[Bew.CE. 
A    GIFT   TO    THOSE    THAT    HAVE   GONE 

Taking  paper  money  to  the  Temple  to  bom 


'    '    e      •    •• 


Church  and  China's  Past  Heritage    131 

nation  has  so  far  shewn  very  little  ability  or 
even  desire  to  combat,  and  which  in  certain 
striking  instances  is  bound  to  affect  Christi- 
anity, is  that  of  official  peculation.  That  it 
is  almost  impossible  for  the  majority  of 
Chinese  officials  to  make  ends  meet,  or  even 
to  attempt  to  do  so  on  the  basis  of  the  salaries 
attached  to  their  posts,  is  well  known.  Certain 
"  pickings,"  generally  considered  legitimate 
are  used,  in  order  to  make  good  the  inevitable 
deficiency,  and  the  probity  of  Chinese  official- 
dom is  judged  not  by  the  use  of  such  sources 
of  income,  but  by  their  abuse.  If  the  pecula- 
tion of  the  official  is  according  to  "  propriety," 
he  is  honest ;  if  it  goes  beyond  the  bounds, 
as  it  is  certain  to  do  if  an  official  begins  to 
amass  wealth,  then  he  is  otherwise,  propor- 
tionately to  his  excesses.  Honesty  is  there- 
fore made  relative,  not  absolute.  It  depends 
upon  circumstances. 

It  is  obvious  into  what  a  moral  difficulty 
Chinese  Christians  of  ability  who  are  fit 
candidates  for  official  employment,  or  others, 
who,  already  holding  such  appointments,  come 
under  the  conviction  of  the  truth  of  the  New 
Testament,  are  brought  in  consequence  of  this 
state  of  affairs.  Although,  under  the  new 
regime,  there  are  a  few  departments  of  the 
Government    Service    in    China    where    an 


132     Regeneration  of  New  China 

adequate  salary  is  the  rule,  yet  the  bulk  of 
official  appointments,  indeed,  almost  the  whole 
of  the  "  home  "  civil  and  military  posts,  are 
still  under  the  old  degrading  system.  Many 
honourable,  efficient  men,  Christians  whom 
China  can  ill  spare  from  her  direct  service, 
turn  from  official  life  for  this  cause  ;  others 
struggle  awhile,  against  temptation  only  to 
fall  at  last.  Can  the  Christian  standard  of 
honesty  and  truth  be  lowered  in  China  to  meet 
the  needs  of  the  existing  situation,  in  the 
hope  of  changing  the  system  in  the  course  of 
time?  Few  Christians  can  think  so.  All 
allowances  must  be  made  for  those  who  fail 
in  the  endeavour  to  follow  the  highest,  and, 
remembering  the  unfavourable  environment, 
and  the  failure  of  the  West  with  its  long 
Christian  history  to  attain  the  ideal,  charity 
will  always  temper  judgment  ;  but  the 
absolute  standard  must  be  maintained  if  the 
Christian  cause  is  to  conquer,  and  the  Christian 
youth  of  China  for  some  time  to  come  must 
suffer  disability  and  loss  until  the  public  life 
of  the  land  has  come  into  line  with  the  demand 
of  Christian  morality  as  expressed  in  the 
attitude  and  decision  of  corporate  Christianity. 
The  purity  and  moral  quality  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  China  are  of  more  moment  than 
either  its  popularity  or  its  numerical  success. 


Church  and  China's  Past  Heritage    133 

There  is  another  considerable  series  of  Ancestor- 
inherited  forces  in  China  which  constitutes  varying  in- 
for  Christianity  one  of  its  most  fascinating  ^P^1*" 
and  yet  most  difficult  problems.  They  are 
those  connected  more  especially  with  the 
religious  aspects  of  domestic  life  and  the 
customs  of  the  family.  Chief  of  these,  because 
set  in  the  forefront  of  Chinese  history  as  well 
as  of  daily  life,  is  the  worship  of  ancestors. 
As  that  custom  has  been  generally  practised 
in  China  it  doubtless  constitutes  one  of  the 
chief  difficulties  confronting  the  Christian 
Gospel,  and  however  much  we  may  deprecate 
the  untimely  nature  of  many  of  the  Christian 
attacks  upon  the  practice,  the  fact  remains 
that  in  a  vast  majority  of  instances  the  convert 
to  Christianity  is  even  more  drastic  in  his 
judgment  against  ancestor- worship  than  is 
the  foreign  missionary.  A  leading  missionary 
statesman  in  China,  reviewing  the  whole 
position,  has  said,  "  when  we  come  to  deal 
with  the  worship  of  the  dead,  it  behoves  us  to 
make  a  clean  sweep  at  the  outset."  1  Educated 
and  sympathetic  Chinese  have  urged,  however, 
that  the  custom  is  not  one  of  worship  at 
all,  but  simply  an  act  of  dutiful  reverence 
accompanied  by  offerings  of  food  and  drink 
to  demonstrate  sincerity.     The  Chinese  word 

1  Problems  of  Practical  Christianity.     Faber.    (Out  of  print). 


i34    Regeneration  of  New  China 


pai  is  alternately  translated  "  worship  or 
"  revere,"  or  sometimes  simply  "  respect." 
On  New  Year's  Day,  every  Chinese  above  the 
ranks  of  beggar dom  goes  out  to  pai  (pay 
respects  to)  his  friends.  If  a  religiously- 
minded  heathen,  he  will  also  pai  the  gods.  If 
a  Christian,  he  will  pai  (worship)  Jehovah. 
Certain  it  is,  however,  that  the  worship  of 
ancestors  is  a  "  cult,"  and  is  in  its  accepted  form 
subversive  of  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  religion 
in  that  it  offers  to  spirits  of  men  that  form  of 
service  which  is  demanded  for  God  alone. 

This  does  not  end  the  matter,  however. 
Is  there  no  fit  place  in  Christian  worship  for 
the  reverent  regard  for  ancestors,  and  is  it 
not  possible  that  here  the  regard  of  the 
Chinese  for  their  departed  ancestry  may  even 
teach  the  Christian  Church  of  the  West  a 
needed  lesson  ?  The  ancestral  tablet,  as  the 
supposed  residence  of  one  of  the  three  or  five 
spirits  *  of  the  deceased,  must  go,  of  course, 
but  why  should  not  a  more  fitting  memorial, 
an  inscribed  portrait  or  a  memorial  brass, 
preserve  the  memory  of  the  departed,  and 
conserve  that  sense  of  family  unity  between 
living  and  dead  which — though  extravagantly 
abused — is  one  of  the  most  admirable  features 
of  Chinese  social  life  ?    It  ill  becomes  Christian 

1  Chinese  psychology  is  undecided  upon  this  point. 


Church  and  China's  Past  Heritage    135 

teachers  to  take  from  the  people  they  convert 
to  the  Christian  Gospel  everything  which 
pertains  to  the  old  life  just  because  the  old 
life  was  non-Christian.  That  is  the  tendency 
of  the  first  and  most  iconoclastic  generation 
of  converted  men  in  every  land,  but  Christ 
came  "  not  to  destroy  but  to  fulfil,"  and  in 
China  fulfilment  is  one  of  our  high  Christian 
duties. 

So,  too,  in  those  matters  related  to  this  Worship  at 
vital  subject  of  ancestor-worship,  filial  piety,  valuable  * 
and  the  worship  at  the  graves  in  the  Ching  Elements« 
Ming  ("clear  brightness,"  Spring,  or  Easter) 
festival  season,  the  wise  and  truly  Christian 
policy  is  that  which  conserves  the  undoubted 
good  in  such  age-long  customs  while  exclud- 
ing all  that  is  unworthy,  anti-Christian,  and 
idolatrous.  There  is  no  doubt  that  in  the 
system  of  "  filial  piety  '  as  handed  down  in 
China  there  is  much  that  is  altogether  anti- 
social, degrading,  and  even  vicious.  The 
duties  of  children  to  parents  have  been  taught 
and  enforced  until  it  would  seem  impossible 
to  add  to  the  burdens  laid  by  law  and  custom 
upon  sons  and  daughters  whatever  their  age 
may  be.  Even  the  right  to  take  the  life  of 
undutiful  children  has  been  given  into  the 
hands  of  parents,  rarely  exercised  although 
it  has   been.     But  of   the  duties  of   parents 


136    Regeneration  of  New  China 

to  children  little  is  said ;  parental  piety  is 
untaught.  The  puerile  stories  told  to  chil- 
dren in  the  spurious  Confucian  ;  book  of 
filial  piety,"  whereby  it  was  supposed  that 
children  might  be  educated  to  regard  the 
doctrine  aright,  has  failed  to  produce  in  China 
a  race  of  obedient  children.  Yet  it  has 
served  to  give  to  old  age  an  honour  and  a 
protection  which  would  be  welcome  in  the 
family  life  of  Western  lands.  The  Fifth 
Commandment  still  stands  as  one  of  the 
foundation-stones  of  Christian  law,  more  truly 
observed  in  non- Christian  China  than  in 
Europe  or  America.  It  must  not  be  allowed 
to  slip  or  to  deteriorate  in  meaning  and  force 
through  an  unthinking  opposition  to  all  that 
belongs  to  the  non-Christian  customs  of  that 
land. 

Worship  at  the  graves  serves  two  pur- 
poses in  non-Christian  Chinese  life.  In  the 
first  place  there  is  the  wholly  superstitious 
element  of  providing  things  considered  needful 
for  the  deceased  spirit  by  offerings  of  food 
and  drink,  and  by  burning  paper  tokens  of 
money,  bamboo  and  paper  furniture,  and 
other  utensils,  thus  securing  the  goodwill  of 
the  spirit,  who  might  otherwise  be  harmfully 
disposed  toward  the  family  of  the  living. 
At  the  same  time  is  fulfilled  the  purpose  of 


Church  and  China's  Past  Heritage    137 

cleaning  up  the  grave  mound,  and  putting  it 
into  good  repair,  in  order  that  the  care  of  the 
living  members  of  the  family  for  the  departed 
ones  may  be  manifested  to  both  the  living 
and  the  dead.  Unhappy  and  fearful  is  the 
family  unable,  by  stress  of  financial  or  other 
deplorable  circumstances,  to  pay  this  annual 
token  of  remembrance  and  reverent  care. 
Here  also,  by  precept  and  example,  Christi- 
anity should  separate  the  false  from  the  true, 
and  gather  the  good  to  itself  for  the  further 
equipment  of  the  spiritual  life  of  the  Church. 
Memorial  services  for  the  blessed  dead  are 
coming  into  the  life  of  the  Christian  Church  in 
China,  and  in  entirely  Christian  ways  the 
Chinese  are  finding  that  there  is  scope  within 
the  sphere  of  Christian  life  for  their  natural 
and  inherited  feelings  and  traditions. 

A  careful  study  of  the  history  and  inner  The  Moon 
meaning  of  some  of  the  outstanding  religious  es  lva ' 
feasts  of  the  Chinese  world  discovers  to  the 
Christian  enquirer  whole  realms  of  religious 
teaching  which  ought  to  be,  and  one  day 
doubtless  will  be,  brought  into  the  service  of 
Christianity.  As,  in  the  case  of  Christmas 
and  Easter,  pagan  festivals  were  taken  captive 
by  Christian  practice,  and  given  a  Christian 
meaning  in  the  development  of  Christianity 
in   the   West,  so  "  Ching   Ming  "  and  many 


i  $S    Regeneration  of  New  China 

another  feast  are  bound  to  survive  in  China, 
transformed  and  transfigured  by  the  touch  of 
Christ  and  His  Gospel.  One  of  the  more 
popular  feasts  of  the  Chinese  year  is  that 
of  the  Moon  Festival,  which  occurs  on 
the  15th  day  of  the  8th  Chinese  month. 
Special  cakes  are  prepared  and  eaten,  houses 
are  decorated,  and  incense  burned  in  the  door- 
ways. "  Once  a  farmer,  when  asked  for  an 
explanation  of  the  festival,  was  so  surprised 
that  anyone  should  be  so  ignorant  of  it  as  to 
put  the  question  to  him  that  he  almost  lost 
his  temper,  and  with  heightened' voice  replied 
curtly  that  it  was  for  Heaven,  a  thankoffering 
for  the  produce  of  the  land."  *  Here  is  the 
"  Harvest  Thanksgiving  "  awaiting  its  conver- 
sion to  Christ.  Such  a  conversion  is  infinitely 
better  and  more  effective  than  abolition  can 
ever  be,  since  it  conserves  the  religious  instinct 
in  the  minds  of  the  people  and  gives  it  true 
force  and  meaning.  To  break  the  continuity 
of  religious  life  is  rarely  helpful,  and  only  in- 
creases the  difficulty  of  the  task  before  the 
Christian  evangelist.  Much  of  the  heritage  of 
the  past  in  China  is  awaiting  the  cleansing  and 
transforming  power  of  the  Christian  Gospel. 
Natural  religion,  in  its  turn,  may  be  made 
"  the  schoolmaster,  to  bring  men  to  Christ." 

1  Chinas  Young  Men,  October  1913. 


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Church  and  China's  Past  Heritage    139 

This  chapter  must  not  close  without  some  inherit- 

•  ANCES 

reference  to  the  gifts  from  the  past  in  China  helpful 
which  are  not  only  useful  in  their  possibilities  Jhuroh. 
when  cleansed  from  pagan  and  superstitious 
practice,  but  definitely  helpful  to  the  fuller 
life  and  purpose  of  the  Christian  Church. 
Consideration  has  already  been  given  to  the 
practical  care  of  the  Chinese  for  the  aged  of 
their  own  family,  and  to  the  provision  which 
every  dutiful  Chinese  son  makes  against  his 
parents'  decease.  The  gift  of  a  handsome 
coffin  comforts  the  heart  of  those  who  are 
growing  old,  and  the  provision  of  a  silk 
"  longevity  "  robe *  for  "  granny  "  is  the  most 
appreciated  gift  that  can  be  made !  Sons 
delight  in  the  preparation,  of  these  offerings 
for  their  aged  parents,  and  if  it  be  thought 
that  coffins  and  burial  robes  are  gruesome  in 
their  suggestiveness,  may  it  not  be  that  we 
of  the  West  are  too  given  to  blindness  and 
self-deceit  in  this  very  matter  of  avoiding 
needful  preparation  for  death  ?  After  all,  it 
remains  the  abiding  commendation  of  one 
who  made  an  offering  of  her  best  to  our  Lord 
Himself  that  '  she  hath  anointed  me  against 
my  burial."  . 

Another   of    the   contributions    which    the 

1  A  red  silk  robe  with  the  Chinese  character  for   "  long 
life"  embroidered  upon  it. 


140    Regeneration  of  New  China 


Family 
Unity  and 
Sense  of 
Responsi- 
bility. 


old  life  of  China  may  well  make  to  the 
development  of  Christian  life  is  that  sense 
of  family  unity  which  is  the  most  con- 
spicuous feature  of  China's  domestic  and 
social  life.  In  very  few  families  does  it 
happen  that  wealth  falls  to  the  lot  of  all,  or 
even  many,  of  the  members.  Yet  pride  of 
wealth  is  conspicuous  by  its  absence.  No 
man  in  China  is  prejudged  because  of  the 
circumstances  of  his  birth,  but  he  would  be 
condemned  by  general  consent  if,  in  his  day 
of  prosperity,  he  forgot  the  needs  of  the  poorer 
members  of  his  family  group.  Around  the 
majority  of  the  great  men  of  China  there  have 
been  gathered  hosts  of  poor  relations  who 
have  been  fed  by  the  bounty  of  the  fortunate 
one.  Many  of  the  servants  in  a  wealthy 
Chinese  household  are  frequently  enough  the 
poorer  relatives  of  the  head  of  the  establish- 
ment. The  sense  of  human  equality  has 
been  wonderfully  persistent  in  all  the  life  of 
the  Chinese,  and  there  are  few  nations  so 
fitted  by  experience  and  practice  to  appreciate 
the  New  Testament  saying,  "  whether  one 
member  suffer,  all  the  members  suffer  with  it ; 
or  one  member  be  honoured,  all  the  members 
rejoice  with  it."  Education  has  proved  a 
dividing  line,  but  not  material  possessions, 
and  the  poor  relation  has  never  been  made 


Church  and  China's  Past  Heritage    141 

a  source  of  shamefacedness  to  the  well-to-do, 
or  a  sufferer  at  their  hands.  Here,  surely,  is 
a  human  asset  of  no  mean  order  for  the 
growing  Church  of  Christ  in  China.  The  whole 
sense  of  unity  in  family  life  in  China  should 
serve  to  develop  a  conspicuously  Christian 
life  within  the  family  circle,  and  a  sense  of 
religious  responsibility  for  all  its  members 
equal  to  that  now  expressed  in  material 
things  should  arise,  as  the  sense  of  religious 
value  of  Christianity  makes  itself  duly  felt. 

This  sense  of  unity  in  China  does  not  stop 
at  family  life.  Strangely  enough,  side  by 
side  with  an  obvious  lack  of  patriotism  there 
has  been  evidenced  in  the  national  life  of  the 
Chinese  people  a  practical  unity  which  marks 
them  more  than  most  races.  This  unity  is 
social  and  religious  in  origin  and  scope  rather 
than  political ;  hence  the  apparent  contradic- 
tion of  a  strong  racial  solidarity  existing  to- 
gether with  inter -provincial  jealousy  and 
suspicion  and  an  unpatriotic  spirit.  The 
Confucian  ethics,  the  state  observance  of 
Confucian  ceremonies  (obligatory  through  the 
centuries  upon  the  whole  official  class),  the 
rigid  standard  and  narrow  range  of  education, 
all  have  their  part  in  this.  The  acknowledge- 
ment of  religious  .  responsibility  regarding 
matters  affecting  the  well-being  of  the  nation 


142    Regeneration  of  New  China 

extends  to  all  in  authority,  from  the  small 
official  to  the  Emperor  or  President.  In 
times  of  drought,  flood  or  other  widespread 
calamity,  or  on  the  occasion  of  rebellion  or 
invasion,  all  these  official  persons  are  called 
upon  to  act  as  the  religious  representatives 
of  the  nation,  offering  prayers  and  sacrifices 
on  behalf  of  all,  to  the  offended  deities  and  to 
great  Heaven.  The  representative  religious 
functions  of  the  Imperial  Ruler  are  of  national 
importance,  and  are  not  likely  to  pass  out  of 
Chinese  life  with  the  change  of  Government. 
Indeed  they  have  been  transferred,  with 
general  approval,  from  the  Emperor  to  the 
recently  installed  President.  The  Chinese 
nation  realises  its  unity  on  a  basis  which  is 
deeper  than  politics.  It  is  very  much  nearer 
the  realm  of  religion. 

The  ideals  and  service  of  the  Christian 
Church  are  bound  to  touch  the  life  of  the 
Chinese  people  at  this  point  of  real  unity,  and 
the  Church  will  be  increasingly  affected  there- 
by. There  are  opportunities  and  also  perils 
arising  from  the  position  which  the  Church  of 
Christ  may  be  expected  to  occupy  as  a  possible 
religious  agency  of  a  semi-official  kind.  It  is 
possible  that  the  church  may  be  commanded 
to  pray  on  behalf  of  the  nation  on  unworthy 
grounds   or   for   superstitious   motives.     Yet 


Church  and  China's  Past  Heritage    143 

there  is  great  gain  possible  to  Christianity  in 
China  by  the  attraction  of  the  common  senti- 
ment of  the  people  towards  it  as  an  agent 
of  the  common  good,  and  as  an  authorized 
avenue  of  approach  to  those  spiritual  forces 
which,  in  the  last  resort,  all  Chinese  unite  in 
acknowledging.  The  underlying  unity  of 
Chinese  life  may  be  the  means  of  a  great 
turning  of  opinion,  as  apart  from  a  change  of 
faith,  to  the  Christian  Church.  So,  too,  the 
strong  racial  solidarity  of  the  Chinese  people 
brings  its  influence  to  bear  upon  the  call  of  the 
Christian  community  for  a  religious  unity  in 
ecclesiastical  diversity,  and  the  demand  for 
one  Christian  Church  of  China. 

The   Chinese    reverence   for   literature,    al-  Reasoned 
though    it    has    by    its    narrow   application  fo^Litera* 
been  a  source  of  difficulty  to  the  evangelistic ture- 
work  of  Christian  missions,  brings  into  Chris- 
tianity a  contribution  of  abiding  value.    This 
reverence  for  the  accepted  classical  literature 
is   not   unreasoning.     The   educated   Chinese 
have   a   due   sense  of    the   place   and  value 
of  literary  and  historic  criticism,  and  it  has 
been   exercised   more   than    once  by  leading 
commentators  on  the  Confucian  books.     It  is 
true  enough  that  logic  in  criticism  has  not 
been  an  outstanding  feature  of  Chinese  scholar- 
ship, and  that  much  remains  to  be  done  in 


144    Regeneration  of  New  China 

applying  the  results  of  the  criticism  already 
made  by  the  Chinese  themselves.  The  point 
to  note  is  that  whilst  the  legitimacy  and 
value  of  criticism  is  allowed,  the  reverence 
for  the  historic  books  is  unlimited.  The 
practical  nature  of  the  Chinese  mind  is 
conspicuous  in  this  respect :  it  has  a  just 
regard  for  proven  values  in  books  as  in 
everything  else,  and  it  will  follow  that  the 
Chinese  estimate  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures 
is  likely  to  be  undisturbed  by  extremes  in 
criticism  of  either  history  or  text  when  the 
Chinese  regard  as  proved  the  practical  value 
of  the  Bible  as  a  living  book.  Once  given 
the  conviction  that  the  sacred  deposit  of 
truth  is  enshrined  in  the  Christian  Bible, 
the  whole  of  the  subsidiary  questions  aroused 
by  critical  enquiry  are  likely  to  take  their 
rightful  secondary  place  in  the  Chinese  mind. 
What  a  great  and  good  book  can  do  for  a 
people  the  Chinese  know  full  well.  With 
Christ  enthroned  in  the  hearts  of  the  Chinese, 
the  literature  associated  with  His  Gospel  is 
assured  of  its  place  in  their  reverent  regard. 
complex-  This  general  survey  of  the  position  in  which 
problem! E  Christianity  stands  with  relation  to  the  present 
Chinese  inheritance  of  character,  outlook,  and 
prejudice,  should  serve  to  give  at  least  some 
realization  of  the  complexity  as  well  as  the 


Church  and  China's  Past  Heritage    145 

magnitude  of  the  missionary  task.  And  the 
problem  is  involved  far  beyond  what  can  be 
told  in  such  a  chapter  as  this  ;  ramifications 
of  social  and  religious  inheritance  touch  the 
old  life  at  every  conceivable  point.  Not  all 
of  these,  however,  are  at  enmity  with  faith. 
Many  are,  and  it  is  the  task  of  Christianity 
to  overthrow  the  power  of  such  and  expel 
them  from  the  life  of  the  people.  Others 
have  in  them  elements  which  Christianity  may 
and  surely  will  use  in  its  Chinese  develop- 
ment ;  these  are  awaiting  the  converting  and 
regenerating  power  of  the  Christian  message 
of  redemption.  In  other  instances,  again,  the 
long  discipline  of  the  ages  has  produced  in 
China  some  striking  characteristics  which  are 
the  natural  allies  of  the  Gospel  in  its  prac- 
tical application  to  life,  and  which  will  add 
distinction  to  the  faith  and  practice  of  the 
universal  Church  as  they  receive  from  Christ 
that  crown  of  divine  truth  which  they  lack 
to-day.  The  task  before  Christianity  to  make 
of  the  good  the  best.  From  China  also  it 
shall  be  true  of  the  Kingdom  that  "  The 
Kings  of  the  earth  do  bring  their  glory  and 
honour  into  it." 


146    Regeneration  of  New  China 


Supplementary  Beading 

For  frankness  and  insight,  the  Kev.  Campbell  N. 
Moody's  book  The  Heathen  Heart  is  unsurpassed.  The 
Chinese  of  whom  he  tells  are  dwellers  in  Formosa,  but  are 
typical  ;  Chaps.  II.,  III.,  IV.  are  relevant  to  our  subject. 
Chap.  III.  of  Vol.  4  in  the  Edinburgh  Conference  Report 
("  The  Missionary  Message  ")  has  much  testimony  as  to 
the  point  of  contact  between  Chinese  and  Christianity, 
the  influence  of  Chinese  religions  on  Chinese  Christians, 
the  influence  of  the  Higher  Criticism  in  China,  etc. 

In  A  Mission  in  China,  Chaps.  VI.  and  VII. 
("  Baptism,"  "  Discipline  ")  will  be  found  illuminating, 
and  in  Mission  Problems  and  Mission  Methods  in  South 
China  the  latter  part  of  Chap.  IX.  and  the  first  part  of 
Chap.  X.  deal  similarly  with  the  factors  most  common 
in  turning  non-Christian  Chinese  to  Christ,  as  well  as 
the  characteristics  of  Chinese  Christians  traceable  to 
their  previous  environment  and  practice. 


■  . 


PASTOR    DING    LI    MEI 

See  p.  151.     By  the  kindness  of  the  Missionary  Education  Movement,  U.S.A. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   CHRISTIAN   CHURCH    IN   CHINA   AND 
ITS   DEVELOPMENT 

"  Independence  of  foreign  control  is  the 
inherent  right  of  the  Chinese  Church.  .  .  . 
The  Chinese  Church  will  make  short  work  of  necessity 

OF  IN- 

many  of  our  Western  scruples  and  difficulties,  digenous 
Taught  by  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelling  in  it,  as  tian?ty. 
a  true  member  of  Christ's  body,  it  will  solve 
in  its  own  way  questions  of  organization 
and  forms  of  worship,  and  it  will  build  up  its 
own  theology."1  At  the  outset  of  any 
consideration  of  the  development  of  the 
Christian  Church  in  China  we  must  rigidly 
set  ourselves  to  realize  that  such  development 
is  bound  to  be  along  lines  of  life  and  thought 
characteristically  Chinese  if  it  is  to  be  truly 
successful,  and  that  the  conquest  of  China 
for  Christ  can  never  be  accomplished  by  the 
imposition  of  Western  forms  of  religious  life 
upon  that  Eastern  people.     A  great  gift  is 

1  Quoted  from  Records  of  Centenary  Missionary  Conference, 
Shanghai,  1907.  Cf.  Ephes.,  iv.  1-16 :  I  Cor.,  xii.  3-12,  for 
the  sense  in  which  the  words  are  intended. 

F  147 


148    Regeneration  of  New  China 

in   the   hands   of   the   Christian   disciples   of 
Western  lands  for  the  help  of  men,  but  it  is  a 
gift  to  be  bestowed,  and  not  a  trust  deed  to 
be  administered.     The  seed  of  the  Kingdom 
has  to  be  sown  in  all  soils  and  "  God  gives  the 
increase."     It  is  one  seed,  the  Word  of  the 
Gospel    of    Universal    Redemption,    but    its 
development  varies  with  its  location  and  its 
fruitage   is   manifold.     The   product    of   the 
Gospel  seed  must  be  revealed  in  China  in  a 
Church  essentially  catholic  but  characteristic- 
ally Chinese,  if  it  is  to  be  fully  Christian.     The 
care   of  the   development   of  the   Church  in 
China  is  the  duty  of  Chinese  Christians  ;  it  is 
the  more  elementary  work  of  seed  sowing  and 
foundation  laying  that  rests  with  the  foreign 
missionary. 
Limitations       There  is  a  true  sense  in  which  no  foreign 
Foreign        Christian  missionary  can  ever  be  completely 
Missionary,   f^ted   to   express  in  its  fulness,  for  men  of 
another  country  than  his  own,  the  meaning 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.     His  life  may  be  a 
perfect  revelation  of  "sweetness  and  light,"  and 
his  service  wholly  consecrated ;  his  command 
of  the  language  may  be  wonderfully  great ;  his 
knowledge  of  the  history  and  thought  of  the 
people  he  would  serve  may  be  equally  remark- 
able ;   yet  he  lacks  an  indefinable  something 
which  would  make  him  the  perfect  conductor 


Development  of  Christian  Church     149 

of  the  power  he  desires  to  convey.  He  is  of 
another  race.  The  nature  of  the  differences 
dividing  East  and  West  is  persistently  over- 
stated, and  harm  is  done  to  all  the  uplifting 
causes  of  our  world  as  a  result,  but  there  is  a 
danger  of  supposing  that  because  differences 
are  not  fundamental,  therefore  they  do  not 
count.  Such  differences  handicap  efficient 
service,  although  they  need  not,  and  in  the 
sphere  of  true  Christianity  do  not,  divide 
the  servants. 

A  consideration  of  the  difficulties  that  often 
arise  in  our  own  land  through  the  tempera- 
mental differences  between  Celt  and  Saxon  will 
help  us  to  realize  how  easy  it  is  in  a  land 
like  China  for  even  the  best  intentioned  and 
best  informed  of  Anglo-Saxons  to  misunder- 
stand Chinese  sentiment,  and  in  turn  to  be 
misunderstood.  This  becomes  most  apparent 
when  the  time  to  consider  methods  of  service 
is  reached.  Chinese  ways  of  accomplishing  a 
given  task  will  vary  much  from  those  which 
a  Western  worker  would  adopt,  but  are 
none  the  less  sure  and  no  less  worthy.  As 
in  the  physical  tasks  of  the  commercial 
life  of  the  world  the  Chinese  relies  upon 
human  labour  where  the  Anglo-Saxon  would 
look  to  a  machine,  so  in  religious  enter- 
prises a  like   difference   appears.     Generally 


150    Regeneration  of  New  China 

they  seem  less  logical,  far  less  direct  and 
insistent ;  but  their  plans  are  even  more  surely 
adapted  to  the  task,  more  considerate  of  the 
tools  available  for  use,  and  of  the  human 
element  involved.  The  Chinese  possess  a 
knowledge  of  men  and  affairs  beyond  that 
of  the  West.  In  the  successful  study  of 
mankind  the  Chinese  are  probably  without 
equal,  and  this  accomplishment  will  profoundly 
affect  their  methods  of  Christian  service.  Here 
the  foreign  worker  is  a  learner  and  not  a 
teacher.  As  a  wise  master  builder  he  will  lay 
a  good  foundation,  and  the  Chinese  will  build 
thereon.  The  "  diligent  fostering  of  the  right 
spirit  and  the  right  standard  is  the  great  task 
of  the  foreign  worker  in  the  Chinese  Church." 
Notable  The  full  interpretation  of  Christian  thought 

Christians,  to  China,  therefore,  must  be  through  the 
medium  of  Chinese  thought  and  life,  and  it  is 
not  to  be  expected  that  either  the  interpre- 
tation or  the  resultant  expression  will  be  in 
detail  on  the  lines  of  Western  Christian  develop- 
ment. Already  it  is  becoming  clear  that 
Chinese  who  have  received  such  an  equip- 
ment as  makes  them  capable  of  independent 
thought  and  judgment  are  looking  ahead  to 
a  revelation  of  Christian  life  in  China  differing 
in  many  ways  from  that  of  Europe,  though 
derived  from  the  same  Divine  source.      No 


Development  of  Christian  Church      1 5 1 

one  type  of  Christian  man,  and  no  body  of 
Christian  men,  whether  in  Europe,  or  America, 
or  China,  has  any  claim  to  a  monopoly  of 
Divine  truth,  or  to  the  sole  guidance  of  the. 
Holy  Spirit  of  God.  The  great  Chinese 
Christians,  whose  names  are  on  record,  or 
who  are  now  doing  significant  work  for 
Christ,  give  promise  of  a  day  when  the  leader- 
ship of  aggressive  Christianity  in  China  shall 
have  passed  altogether  from  the  hands  of 
foreign  workers  (who  will  then  become  simple 
fellow-labourers)  into  those  of  the  Chinese 
themselves.  Men  of  the  type  of  Pastor  Hsi, 
or  Pastor  Li  of  Soochow,1  or  Pastor  Ding,2 
or  the  Rev.  Cheng  Ching-yi,3  are  not  so  much 
exceptional  Chinese  leaders  as  outstanding 
representatives  of  a  growing  and  capable 
body  of  Christian  workers.  The  capacity  for 
leadership  is  there.  It  will  inevitably  force 
itself  to  the  front.  The  problem  of  to-day 
is  that  of  training  and  equipping  it  for  the 
task  of  development. 

Referring  to  the  Student  Conferences  which 
have   become  a  regular  feature  of  Christian 

1  One  of  the  most  forceful  Chinese  Evangelists  of  our  time. 

2  A  preacher  with  a  very  wide  and  deep  influence  among 
students  in  China  to-day. 

3  Elected  by  the  Edinburgh  Conference  as  a  member  of  the 
Continuation  Committee.  Now  Chinese  Secretary  of  the 
China  Continuation  Committee.     Is  a  Manchu. 


152     Regeneration  of  New  China 


Weakness 
of  Western- 
ising Ten- 
dencies. 


work  in  China,  a  recent  writer  says,  "  There  is 
now  not  one  of  these  gatherings  that  could 
not  have  been  held  in  the  absence  of  foreigners. 
Furthermore,  it  has  been  deemed  advisable 
each  year  to  use  a  larger  proportion  of  the 
Chinese  as  speakers.  Five  years  ago  perhaps 
two-thirds  of  the  speakers  were  foreigners ; 
to-day  the  percentage  of  foreign  speakers  is 
small.  This  is  not  on  account  of  any  anti- 
foreign  feeling,  but  rather  because  it  is  felt 
that  a  Chinese  who  has  a  vital  message  for 
men  has  many  advantages  in  giving  it  to 
the  students  in  his  own  language  backed  up 
by  his  own  life."  * 

Much  of  the  tendency  of  the  past  has  been 
for  the  Christian  missionary  to  reproduce,  for 
service  within  the  Church,  men  who  have  been 
allowed  to  model  themselves,  mentally  and 
spiritually,  upon  the  lives  of  their  teachers. 
In  some  way  or  other  very  many  Chinese 
Christian  workers  have  borne  the  mark  of 
the  foreigner.  It  was  far  from  being  of  service 
to  them  or  to  their  cause,  and  although  in 
our  day  the  opposition  to  the  external  signs 
of  Western  civilization  has  almost  entirely 
disappeared,  Christians  and  non  -  Christians 
vying  with  each  other  in  their  desire  to  secure 
the  efficient  tools  and  proven  comforts  of  our 

1  W.  W.  Lockwood  in  Chinese  Recorder. 


Development  of  Christian  Church      153 

Western  life,  yet  the  Western  habit  of  mind 
and  expression  rightly  marks  a  Chinese 
possessor  of  it  as  an  imitator  rather  than  a 
leader.  The  use  of  the  phrase  "  secondary 
foreign  devils,"  a  common  designation  for 
Chinese  Christians  on  the  part  of  many  until 
very  recent  years,  was  illustrative  of  the 
thought  that  took  hold  of  the  Chinese  mind 
concerning  the  adoption  of  Christianity.  It 
meant  selling  oneself  to  the  foreigner.  The 
Christian  church  building  was  an  aggressively 
foreign  erection,  its  very  outline  bidding 
defiance  to  the  national  style  of  architecture. 
It  might  be,  and  was,  a  better  type  of  build- 
ing than  China  had  known,  and  later  it  might, 
and  did,  become  the  model  for  Chinese  builders 
to  follow.  Yet  it  was  foreign — unmistakably, 
blatantly  zm-Chinese,  and  its  very  obvious 
superiority  as  a  building  to  all  that  China  had 
accomplished  in  similar  ways  was  an  additional 
offence  in  those  days.1 

One  of  the  most  experienced  missionaries 
in  China  of  recent  years 2  was  wont  to  observe 
that  could  Christianity  have  been  introduced 
to  China  entirely  by  Chinese,  and  have  shown 
no  trace  of  a  foreign  agency  in  its  propaga- 

1  See  Changing  China   (chapter  on  Architecture)  by  Lord 
William  Gascoyne-Cecil. 

2  The  Rev.  Calvin  W.  Mateer,  D.D. 


154    Regeneration  of  New  China 

tion,  it  would  probably  have  conquered  China 
by  sheer  merit  in  a  few  generations.  This, 
perhaps,  was  taking  too  easy  a  view  of  the 
anti-Christian  tendency  of  much  of  Chinese 
life,  but  it  enshrines  a  great  truth.  An  out- 
standing criticism  of  the  Christian  Gospel  in 
China  has  been  its  non-Chinese  origin  and 
its  foreign  associations,  and  this  criticism 
naturally  deepened  into  opposition  as  inter- 
national politics  increased  the  difficulties  and 
the  distresses  of  China.  The  dissociation  of 
Christianity  in  China  from  the  politics  of  the 
West  would  have  been  a  conspicuous  blessing 
to  missionary  enterprise,  if  Christianity  could 
have  made  an  entrance  apart  from  them — 
a  very  big  "if."  That  the  same  treaties  which 
exacted  penalties  from  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment for  its  ignorant  obstinacy  and  folly  in 
international  dealings,  and  which  contained 
the  obnoxious  clauses  concerning  opium, 
should  also  have  forced  the  missionary  upon 
it,  nolens  volens,  was  a  disability  to  Christi- 
anity from  which  we  are  not  yet  free.  It  is 
by  clothing  the  essential  doctrines  of  the 
Christian  faith  in  Chinese  garb  that  China 
will  most  readily  be  led  to  sympathy  and 
understanding. 

As   in   evangelization   and   purely   Church 
activities,  so  in  Chinese  literature.     So  long 


^  •» 


O  J 


->    > 


«-> 


:•. 


* » 


MR    C.    T.    WANG 

See  p.  157 


Development  of  Christian  Church      155 

as  the  labour  of  translation  has  to  be  largely 
under  the  influence  of  the  foreign  mind,  it 
will  inevitably  happen  that  the  translation, 
whether  of  the  Bible  or  of  other  books,  will 
bear  in  some  way  or  other  the  marks  of  its 
origin  in  the  turn  of  its  literary  expressions. 
The  alembic  of  the  Chinese  brain  is  more 
essential  to  the  production  of  convincing 
Christian  literature  than  perhaps  to  any 
form  of  Christian  effort.  Such  outstanding 
missionary  writers  as  Dr  W.  A.  P.  Martin  of 
Peking  may  prepare  and  publish  works  on 
Christian  Apologetics,  which  are  exceedingly 
helpful,  and,  at  the  present  stage  of  Christian 
development,  indispensable,  but  the  book 
upon  such  a  subject  for  which  the  Christian 
Church  in  China  is  waiting  must  be  the  work 
of  a  Chinese.  All  our  Christian  literary  work 
calls  for  what  the  Chinese  describe  as 
"  flavour,"  that  essence  and  mastery  of  style 
which  denotes  the  assured  scholar,  if  it  is  to 
tell  to  the  utmost.  One  of  the  great  tasks  of 
Christianity  is  the  training  for  literary  and 
journalistic  work  of  men  able  to  express  the 
Christian  view  of  things  in  convincing  and 
acceptable  Chinese  language.  A  Christian 
Chinese  newspaper  edited  by  Chinese  is  an 
outstanding  need  of  the  day. 

One  of  the  most  notable  accomplishments 


156     Regeneration  of  New  China 
christian  of  Christianity  in  China  daring  the  past  few 

LEADER-  01 

ship.  years  has  been  the  breaking  down,  in  its  cruder 

forms,  of  this  prejudice  against  the  Christian 
converts  because  of  their  supposed  loss  of 
nationality  through  conversion.  Attention  has 
already  been  drawn  to  the  fact ;  it  will  be 
worth  our  while  to  consider  more  closely  the 
manner  of  its  accomplishment.  It  has  not 
been  the  work  of  a  moment ;  it  is  the  fruit 
of  a  generation  of  steady  toil  and  wise  fore- 
sight on  the  part  of  many  missionary  teachers. 
The  fact  of  leadership  within  the  Christian 
Church,  on  the  part  not  so  much  of  pastors 
as  of  educated  laymen  and  especially  men  en- 
gaged in  the  work  of  teaching,  has  come  about 
through  the  steady  development  of  self-reliant 
character  in  missionary  schools  and  colleges, 
whereby  men  have  been  trained  to  habits  of 
independent  thought  and  responsible  action. 

Examples  in  Such  a  career  as  that  of  Dr  W.  W.  Yen,  the 
present  Chinese  Minister  to  Berlin,  is  a  case  in 
point ;  many  others  might  be  cited.  Dr  Yen 
was  the  son  of  a  pastor  of  the  American 
Episcopal  Church  in  China,  connected  with 
the  well-known  St  John's  College,  Shanghai, 
which,  under  Dr  Hawks  Pott,1  has  rendered 
such  splendid  service  to  the  cause  of  Christi- 
anity and  progress  in  China.     He  proceeded 

1  Author  of  The  Emergency  in  China. 


Development  of  Christian  Church     157 

to  America,  and  after  a  distinguished  career 
at  Columbia  University  returned  to  become 
a  master  at  his  old  school.  From  thence  he 
was  appointed  to  a  secretaryship  of  Legation 
in  Washington ;  thereafter  he  became  a 
secretary  of  one  of  the  Government  Boards  in 
Peking ;  from  that  post,  under  the  Republic, 
he  became  one  of  President  Yuan's  secretaries, 
and  so  passed  on  to  the  ambassadorship  in 
Berlin.  Dr  Yen  was  one  of  the  first,  and  per- 
haps the  most  conspicuous,  of  the  students 
educated  abroad  to  receive  his  doctorate  from 
the  reformed  Manchu  Government,  under  the 
old  Empress  Dowager. 

Other  well-known  instances  of  a  similar 
kind  are  found  in  the  cases  of  the  sons  of 
Pastor  Wang,  of  the  London  Mission  Inde- 
pendent Church  of  Hong  Kong,  the  oldest  of 
the  Chinese  self-governing  Churches  and  one 
which  has  a  magnificent  human  record.  The 
eldest  of  these,  Mr  K.  S.  Wang,  is  President 
of  the  Chinese  Y.M.C.A.  Of  another  family 
is  Mr  C.  T.  Wang,  one  of  the  most 
ardent  and  able  of  the  advanced  Christian 
leaders  in  China,  whose  political  zeal  and 
honesty  of  speech  and  conduct  have  brought 
him  into  political  difficulties  in  recent  days. 
Mr  C.  T.  Wang  is  the  son  of  a  C.M.S.  pastor, 
well  known  in  Ning-po  in  the  last  generation, 


158     Regeneration  of  New  China 

and  after  his  mission  school  education,  he 
became  a  master  in  the  Anglo-Chinese  College 
of  the  L.M.S.  in  Tientsin  under  Dr  Lavington 
Hart.  Proceeding  later  to  Tokyo,  he  de- 
veloped gifts  of  leadership  in  the  Christian 
work  carried  on  amongst  the  18,000  Chinese 
students  then  studying  in  Japan  which  marked 
him  as  one  of  the  Christian  leaders  of  the 
future  in  China.  He  passed  on  to  America, 
and  there,  while  pursuing  his  own  educational 
career,  established  the  Chinese  Students' 
Christian  Association  in  the  United  States. 
Returning  to  China  he  was  appointed  to  a 
general  secretaryship  of  the  Chinese  Y.M.C.A. 
in  Shanghai.  In  the  turmoil  of  the  revolu- 
tion he  felt  the  call  to  political  life  to  be 
irresistible,  and  was  successively  a  member 
of  the  first  Republican  Cabinet  in  China 
under  the  Sun  Yat  Sen  regime,  and  later, 
until  the  recent  rise  of  the  forces  of  reaction 
in  Peking,  as  one  of  the  heads  of  the  strongest 
political  party  in  the  Republic,  the  Deputy 
Speaker  of  the  Chinese  Senate. 

In  these  cases  the  deep  Christian  convictions 
of  the  individuals  concerned  have  never  been 
hidden,  and  all  that  has  come  to  them  has 
followed  their  public  profession  of  Christian 
discipleship ;  in  the  case  of  the  last  named 
his  advance  is,  in  reality,  directly  attributable 


Development  of  Christian  Church      1 59 

to  it.  Theirs  has  been  the  triumph  of  Christian 
character  and  culture.  The  line  of  develop- 
ment is  significant  and  striking — Christian 
parentage,  Christian  education  of  the  highest 
grade,  world  experience,  personal  Christian 
conviction,  the  acknowledged  leadership  of 
men.  More  of  the  change  of  opinion  on  the 
part  of  the  Chinese  in  general  is  due  to  the 
life  and  attainments  of  men  like  these  (and 
there  are  many  hundreds  of  them  to-day) 
than  to  anything  else  that  Christianity  has 
done  for  China.  It  is  the  crowning  work  of 
missions.  As  a  foreign  doctrine  Christianity 
was  at  first  despised ;  as  an  educational  force 
it  was  tolerated,  or  perhaps  esteemed;  as  a 
philanthropic  agency  it  was  praised ;  as  a 
maker  of  men  of  the  first  order  it  triumphed. 
The  Christians  of  the  second  generation  in 
China,  and  especially  the  "  sons  of  the  manse," 
although  there  have  been  many  disappoint- 
ments among  them,  have  been  the  most 
significant  features  of  Chinese  Christianity  in 
its  human  activities. 

The  lesson  is  plainly  writ.  The  force  that 
will  move  and  convince  China  in  the  highest 
measure  must  be  that  exercised  through 
China's  own  children.  Indeed,  it  may  be 
safely  asserted  that  until  Chinese  Christians 
have  given  adequate  expression  to  it  the  right 


160    Regeneration  of  New  China 

presentation  of  Christianity  for  China,  and 
that  which  will  lay  hold  of  the  national  heart 
and  life,  will  not  be  forthcoming.  China  is 
beginning  to  appreciate  the  value  of  Chris- 
tianity for  China,  as  distinct  from  its  fitness 
for  other  nations,  because  of  what  Christianity 
has  demonstrably  accomplished  in  and  through 
leading  Chinese. 
Need  of  How  then,  we  may  ask,  has  this  principle, 

veiopmentin  s0  dear  f°r  all  to  see,  been  applied  to  the 
the  Church.  p0liCy  adopted  within  the  Christian  Church  in 
China  ?  The  instances  to  which  attention 
has  been  called  are  those  of  men  who  have 
served  China  and  Christianity  as  lay  members 
of  that  Church.  Has  Christianity  developed 
within  the  Church  that  sense  of  native  leader- 
ship which  it  has  contributed  to  the  life  of 
the  nation  outside  the  Church  ?  The  answer 
is  not  so  convincingly  affirmative  as  we  could 
wish.  Christianity,  in  one  form  or  another, 
has  been  in  China  for  many  centuries  ;  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  has  now  a  full  three 
centuries  of  almost  continuous  history  in  the 
land,  and  the  Protestant  a  full  century. 
Both  have  contributed  to  the  government  of 
China — the  Reformed  Churches  in  a  marked 
degree,  as  we  have  seen.  But  there  is  on 
record  only  one  case  of  the  appointment  of  a 
Chinese   as   bishop,   and    that  is   under  the 


Development  of  Christian  Church      1 6 1 

Roman  Church  in  the  age  of  persecution, 
when  a  Chinese  named  A-lou,  who  had  been 
baptized  as  Gregory  Lopez,  was  consecrated 
Bishop  of  Basilea.  He  died  in  Nanking  in 
1687,  and  has  had  no  successor.  It  is  to  be 
feared  that,  notwithstanding  the  opposition 
that  the  nation  has  offered  to  Christianity, 
there  has  been  on  the  whole  a  wider  scope 
presented  to  leading  Christians  in  certain  fields 
of  effort  outside  the  Church  than  inside  it, 
with  the  result  that  agencies  other  than 
the  distinctively  Church  organization  have 
attracted  the  ablest  men  into  their  service. 

Not  that  great  men  have  been  wanting. 
Every  Mission  with  any  length  of  history  in 
China  can  multiply  instances  of  men  whose 
gifts  would  adorn  any  Christian  Church ; 
nevertheless,  until  very  recent  years  few  of 
these  have  had  an  adequate  field  for  their 
labours.  The  Chinese  Y.M.C.A.,  it  must  in 
fairness  be  said,  has  presented  a  worthy 
example  to  the  Christian  Church  in  its  alloca- 
tion to  posts  of  authority  and  influence  of 
capable  and  educated  Chinese  Christians. 
That  organization  has  taken  of  the  best  of 
the  men  trained  by  the  Missions  and  given  to 
them  the  place  and  power  justified  by  their 
character  and  attainments.  To-day  we  are 
recognizing    that    the    problem    of    Chinese 


1 62     Regeneration  of  New  China 

leadership  is  vital  to  the  whole  Christian  task, 
and    the    matter    is    receiving    the    gravest 
attention.1 
Chinese  The  Chinese  within  the  Church,  as  well  as 

and  thetS  the  foreign  missionary,  are  realizing  the  weak- 
Ministry.  ness  0f  a  situation  which  leads  men  to 
turn  from  the  service  of  the  Church  at  a  time 
when  it  is  vital  that  the  ministry  should 
attract  the  best  of  the  lives  produced  by  the 
Gospel.  The  Student  Volunteer  Movement 
for  the  Chinese  ministry  has  been  actively 
engaged  upon  this  question,  and  a  recent 
article  in  China's  Young  Men 2  recounts  the 
hindrances  stated  by  Chinese  students  to 
stand  in  the  way  of  offers  of  service  for  the 
Christian  ministry.  This  list  of  hindrances 
reveals  how  many  of  the  difficulties  of  the 
spiritual  life  are  common  to  students  in  all 
lands.  Beyond  that,  however,  there  is  a 
general  consensus  of  opinion  that  in  many 
instances  the  relationship  between  the  foreign 
missionary  and  the  Chinese  minister  needs 
revision,  and  that  the  present  undue  promin- 
ence of  the  former,  as  the  personal  authority 
in   the   Church,  must   be   modified  if  things 

1  See  The  Continuation  Committee  Conferences  in  Asia,  1912- 
1913.     J.  R.  Mott. 

2  The   organ  of  the  Chinese  Y.M.C.A.,  English  edition, 
edited  by  Chinese, 


Development  of  Christian  Church     163 

are  to  alter  for  the  better.  "  The  more  the 
Church  becomes  a  Chinese  institution,  founded 
and  propagated  without  reference  to  foreign 
treaties,  the  more  shall  we  find  college  men 
giving  their  lives  to  its  service."  Another 
outstanding  difficulty  mentioned  by  these 
young  men  in  reply  to  questions  upon  the 
subject  is  the  comparatively  low  standard 
of  theological  education,  and  the  resultant 
effect  upon  both  the  type  of  candidate  and 
the  estimation  in  which  the  work  of  the 
ministry  is  held  amongst  the  educated  classes 
within  and  without  the  Church.  The  com- 
ment of  the  Editor  of  China's  Young  Men 
upon  the  results  of  the  whole  inquiry  is 
that  "  the  article  calls  for  a  radical  reform 
in  the  principles  and  practice  of  many 
Churches  in  regard  to  the  securing,  training 
and  treatment  of  Chinese  workers.  .  .  . 
Educated  Christian  young  men  must  feel  that 
the  pressing  need  of  the  present  is  a  call  for 
them  to  consider  seriously  the  duty  of 
dedicating  their  talents  and  powers  to  God's 
service  in  the  ministry.  If  they  do  not  so  con- 
sider, not  only  will  the  grandest  opportunity 
of  Christianizing  the  nation  be  lost,  but  also 
the  solution  of  the  ministerial  problem  of  the 
Chinese  Church  will  be  delayed  for  another 
generation."     At  the  same  time  attention  is 


164     Regeneration  of  New  China 

drawn  to  the  danger  of  dwelling  so  much  upon 
the  claim  for  leadership  as  to  cause  men  and 
women  to  forget  that  the  ministry  is  a  position 
of  service,  and  that  the  call  to  sacrifice  is 
still  the  call  of  Christianity  to  men.  "  If  any 
would  become  chief  among  you,  let  him  be- 
come your  minister." 

The  call  to  sacrifice  is  not  without  its 
appeal  to  Chinese.  Of  the  graduates  from 
fourteen  Christian  colleges  in  China  giving 
a  really  collegiate  training  to  men,  it  is 
reported  that  eighteen  per  cent,  of  the  total 
number  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  Chris- 
tian ministry.  But  from  the  colleges  outside 
Christian  influence,  and  from  Japan,  America 
and  Europe,  many  thousands  of  students  are 
now  returning  to  take  part  in  the  active 
life  of  China  every  year.  "  In  these  days  of 
awakening  there  is  urgent  need  of  a  type 
of  leader,  and  especially  of  a  type  of  clergy, 
who  shall  be  able  to  appeal  to  the  larger 
number  of  scholars  and  officials,  as  well  as  to 
the  other  classes,  who  are  open  as  never  before 
to  the  message  of  the  Christian  Churches."  x 
The  spiritual  needs  of  the  Chinese,  whether 
scholar,  tradesman,  or  coolie,  have  to  be  met 
by   men   of    their    own    race    on    their   own 

1  Findings  of  the   National  China  Conference,  Shanghai, 
1913, 


Development  of  Christian  Church     165 

ground  and  level,  if  the  self -propagation  of 
the  Christian  Gospel  and  the  worthy  self- 
government  of  the  Christian  Church  in  China 
are  to  be  secured.  The  progress  of  indigenous 
Christianity  in  China  must  not  lag  behind  the 
progress  of  the  nation  in  the  intellectual  and 
material  realms  of  life,  if  the  problem  of 
Christianity  is  to  be  duly  solved.  If  in 
diplomacy,  finance,  and  education  China  is 
proving  herself  the  equal  of  the  West,  why 
not  so  within  the  Church  ?  It  is  largely  a 
question  of  opportunity ;  the  human  material 
is  already  there,  and  the  right  training  and 
use  of  it  is  the  one  sure  way  of  removing  the 
stigma  of  foreign  interference  and  control 
from  the  reputation  of  Christianity  in  China. 

There  are,  however,  very  many  millions  of  Place  of 
men  and  women  in  China  who  are  not  of  omen' 
the  educated  class.  And,  moreover,  the 
problem  of  Christian  leadership  is  not  one 
that  concerns  men  alone.  The  emancipation 
of  women  on  general  lines  has  begun  in  China 
for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  nation, 
and  women  leaders  are  likewise  demanded  by 
the  new  conditions  of  the  age.  The  problem 
presented  by  young  womanhood  to-day  is  as 
serious  as  could  well  be  imagined.  Such 
ebullitions  of  feeling  as  were  evinced  in  the 
enrolment  of  a  regiment  of  Chinese  Amazons 


1 66     Regeneration  of  New  China 

in  the  recent  revolution,  not  merely  to  succour 
the  wounded  and  sick,  but  to  fight  the  Im- 
perial troops  with  bomb  and  musket,  and  also 
shewn  in  the  momentary  outburst  of  militant 
suffrage  in  the  first  days  of  the  Republic,  are 
significant  in  the  extreme.  The  change  they 
represent  in  a  few  short  years  is  greater  than 
other  lands  can  show  in  a  whole  century. 
The  picture  they  present  is  that  of  mediaeval 
women  in  the  most  advanced  ranks  of  the 
twentieth  century.  Upon  the  Christian 
woman  missionary  in  China,  as  the  chief 
instrument  of  the  education  and  guidance  of 
the  new  woman  of  China,  a  tremendous  re- 
sponsibility rests  to-day ;  her  pupils  are  bound 
to  be  the  leaders  of  the  moral  movements  for 
women  in  the  present  and  succeeding  years. 
The  "  feminist  "  movement  in  China,  delayed 
for  centuries,  began  in  the  education  of  girls 
in  the  mission  schools.  The  education  of 
women,  unaccompanied  by  the  guiding  and 
controlling  principles  of  religion,  might  possibly 
exert  a  greater  influence  for  harm  in  China 
than  even  the  materialistic  tendencies  of  a 
rigidly  secular  education  among  the  men. 
For  in  the  old  system  of  Chinese  education 
and  ethics  woman  is  concerned  but  incident- 
ally. She  does  not  reap  from  China's  past 
the  benefit  of  the  long  discipline  through  which 


Development  of  Christian  Church      167 


the  People. 


the  men  have  come,  and  in  consequence,  has 
neither  the  responsibility  nor  the  sedateness 
of  the  Confucian  trained  scholar.  Her 
spiritual  and  moral  danger,  and  her  menace 
as  the  agent  of  "  unchartered  freedom  '  to 
the  life  of  China  to-morrow,  are  by  so  much 
the  greater.  Chinese  mothers  rock  the  cradles 
of  one-fourth  of  the  children  of  the  world. 
How  great  an  influence  may  be  created  by  a 
Chinese  woman  the  life  of  the  old  Empress 
Dowager  Tsu-Hsi  suffices  to  shew. 

There  is,  then,  the  great  mass  of  men  and  Reaching 
women  who  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case  are 
outside  the  schools  and  colleges,  and  untouched 
(save  indirectly)  by  the  intellectual  movements 
of  the  race.  The  struggling  shopkeeper  and 
his  family — who  form  possibly  half  the  popu- 
lation of  the  cities  of  China — the  harassed 
farmer,  that  backbone  of  China's  prosperity 
and  good  name ;  the  fisherman,  the  artisan, 
the  coolie,  on  whose  willing  and  able  shoulders 
the  wealth  of  China  is  carried — who  shall 
reach  these  with  the  message  that  lifts  the 
poor  and  brings  joy  to  the  distressed  ?  Out 
of  this  class  has  come  the  majority  of  those 
preachers  whose  children  or  grandchildren 
are  amongst  China's  Reform  Leaders  to-day. 
For  every  scholar  within  the  Church  there  are 
a  score,  perchance  a  hundred,  of  such  as  these, 


1 68    Regeneration  of  New  China 

and  their  claim  is  great.  The  concentration 
of  effort  upon  the  educated  in  order  to  secure 
statesmanship  and  efficiency,  self-government 
and  self -propagation,  is  primarily  a  matter  of 
missionary  strategy.  It  cannot  be  pursued  to 
the  point  of  neglecting  the  great  masses  of 
the  nation,  unless  the  Gospel  is  to  be  dis- 
owned. Leaders  must  be  found  for  the  army. 
But  the  army  is  a  greater  consideration  than 
even  its  officers  and  commanders,  and  to  the 
Kingdom  of  God  the  Chinese  coolie  is  as 
essential  as  the  minister  graduate.  The  high- 
ways and  hedges  are  full  of  common  men  and 
women  waiting  to  be  brought  in.  The 
question  we  have  been  considering  is  one  of 
spiritual  expediency  and  claim  in  view  of  the 
whole  work  to  be  done  for  Christ  in  China,  and 
the  share  of  the  foreign  missionary  in  it. 
the  .  As  preachers  of  the  Gospel   story  Chinese 

have  had  wonderful  success  in  bringing  home 
to  men  and  women  of  their  own  class  the 
truths  of  Christian  doctrine.  Their  remarkable 
gift  of  illustration,  the  conveyance  of  truth 
by  parallel  and  parable,  their  shrewd  common 
sense  in  debate,  fit  them  in  a  remarkable 
degree  for  the  task  of  evangelisation.1  To 
hear  an  evangelistic  address  from  an  able 
Chinese  preacher  is  an  education  in  the  art 

1  Cf.  Soothill :  A  Mission  in  China }  ch.  ix. 


CHINESE 
CHURCH 


Development  of  Christian  Church      169 

of  pointed  sermon  illustration.  Here  is  a 
man  preaching  to  a  congregation  of  country 
people  on  the  true  meaning  of  life.  Opposite 
the  preaching  hall — a  commodious  shop  with 
the  front  taken  out — is  a  large  tannery  yard. 
"  If  the  soul  is  dead,"  says  the  preacher,  "  the 
body  is  of  no  value,  indeed  of  less  than  none.  Preachers 
If  a  bullock  dies,  its  hide  is  valued  for 
leather,  its  body  for  food ;  so  also  with 
a  pig ;  indeed  dead  dogs  and  cats  are  not 
without  value  to  the  tanner  and  the  furrier; 
but  a  dead  man  has  no  worth — in  fact  he 
is  an  expense  to  the  living,  for  he  has  to 
be  buried.  If  it  were  not  for  the  soul,  which 
is  the  real  life  of  man,  he  would  be  of  smaller 
value  than  the  perishing  beasts.  The  real 
question  that  men  ought  to  put  to  each  other 
is  not ;  Have  you  eaten  rice  ?  ' l  but  '  Have  you 
cared  for  your  soul  ?  '  From  our  Lord  on 
the  hill-side,  watching  the  Jewish  farmer  at 
work,  and  saying,  '  Behold  a  sower  went 
forth,"  to  Mr  Sung  in  the  province  of  Kiangsu, 
preaching  opposite  a  tannery,  is  a  far  cry,  but 
the  method  of  enforcing  doctrine  by  living 
illustration,  the  Oriental  equivalent  for  Wes- 
tern logic,  is  the  same.  As  an  evangelist  the 
true  Chinese  Christian  is  fine  material  and 
capable  of  great  things. 

1  The  usual  form  of  Chinese  salutatiou. 


tyo    Regeneration  of  New  China 

When,  however,  that  same  material  is 
brought  into  the  pastoral  service  of  the  Church, 
weakness  is  revealed.  At  this  point  Chinese 
Christianity  has  urgent  need  of  the  help  and 
training  that  the  foreign  worker  can  give, 
not  indeed  by  way  of  doing  the  work  instead 
of  the  Chinese,  but  by  example  and  personal 
stimulus.  The  personal  interest  of  the  minister 
in  the  spiritual  life  and  progress  of  the  in- 
dividuals and  families  in  the  Church  brings 
a  new  feature  into  the  religious  life  of  China, 
and  the  spirit  and  method  of  it  have  not 
yet  been  laid  hold  of  by  the  leaders  of 
Chinese  Christian  life.  The  love  of  man 
as  man,  the  desire  to  convert,  as  well  as  to 
convince,  the  teaching  of  the  doctrine  of 
sacrifice  by  love  and  through  Jesus  Christ, 
the  sense  of  the  illimitable  value  of  the  human 
soul  to  God,  are  the  new  forces  working 
from  within  Christianity  outward.  Here  the 
foreign  missionary  as  an  exemplary  pastor  of 
the  flock  of  Christ  has,  for  the  time  being,  a 
great  work  to  do  for  the  leaders  of  Christianity 
in  China.  How  successful  that  service  may 
be  is  revealed  in  many  instances.  The  manner 
in  which  the  Chinese  Christian  student  associa- 
tions in  the  United  States  and  in  Great 
Britain  have  arranged  for  their  own  organizing 
secretaries,  men  whose  one  work  it  is  to  watch 


.-    - 
»  V 


Development  of  Christian  Church     1 7 1 

for  the  spiritual  life  of  the  whole  Chinese 
student  body  abroad,  is  a  proof  of  the  possi- 
bility of  such  pastoral  and  personal  service 
as  makes  Church  life  real  and  effective. 

The  development  of  Church  life  has  not  a  Worship, 
few  difficulties  to  overcome,   some  of  them 
obvious   to   the  most   casual   observer.     The 
lack  of  a  due  sense  of  reverence  in  worship 
strikes   the   Westerner   most   forcibly   as   he 
comes  into  contact  with  very  many  of  the 
Church    services    in    China.     In    connection 
with  the  old  religious  order  there  existed  no 
general  sense  of  the  holiness  of  a  place  set 
apart  for  religious   service.     The  acceptance 
of  a  personal  ritual  in  the  worship  of  idols 
went  hand  in  hand  with  an  utter  disregard 
for  anything  like  corporate  reverence.     In  the 
temples  of  the  cities,  where  men  and  women 
went  to  consult  the  gods  as  oracles,  or  to  offer 
them   worship  for  favours   bestowed  or   ex- 
pected,  with  prostrations   of  the  body  and 
knockings  of  the  head,  the  lighting  of  candles 
and  the  burning  of  incense,  there  went  on 
within  the  courts  of  the  same  temple  gambling 
and  fortune-telling,  conjuring  and  play-acting, 
stalls  and  side-shows.    From  these  the  priests 
made  money.    All  were  accepted  as  a  matter 
of  course.     No  one  ceased  talking  or  quarrel- 
ling or  chaffering  in  order  that  the  worshippers 


172     Regeneration  of  New  China 

might  realize  in  silence  something  of  that 
communion  of  soul  which  is  the  essence  of 
true  worship.  Orderly  and  reverent  worship 
in  the  Christian  Church,  the  creation  of  the 
atmosphere  in  which  quiet,  reverence  and 
communion  are  the  natural  expression  of  the 
worshipful  soul,  needs  to  be  won  for  the  Chinese 
by  example  and  teaching.  Those  Churches 
of  the  West  which  have  developed  in  their 
own  life  a  special  regard  for  reverence  and 
orderliness  in  Christian  service  have  a  great 
work  to  do  for  the  Chinese  Church.  In  no 
land  anywhere,  possibly,  have  the  bare  bones 
of  ritualism  been  so  uncovered  of  the  flesh  of 
reverence  as  in  China,  and  the  experience  of 
the  West  has  much  to  offer  in  this  respect. 

This  does  not  mean  that  the  West  is  to 
impose  upon  China  a  ready-made  form  of 
Christian  worship,  or  to  endeavour  to  trans- 
plant continually  varying  modes  of  Church  life. 
We  return  at  this  point  to  the  position  taken 
up  at  the  opening  of  the  chapter,  and  repeat 
that  all  the  gifts  that  the  West  has  to  offer  to 
Christianity  in  China  must  be  subject  to  the 
medium  of  Chinese  personality  and  to  lines 
of  Chinese  development  if  they  are  to  be  of 
effective  service.  Reverence,  for  example, 
will  be  attained  within  the  Chinese  Church  in 
ways  quite  diverse   from   those  which   have 


Development  of  Christian  Church      173 

been  effectual  in  Britain  and  America.  What 
the  Christian  teacher  from  the  West  has  to 
tell  his  Chinese  brother  is  that,  apart  from 
reverence  in  worship,  no  Christian  life  has 
touched  the  highest  points  of  spiritual  experi- 
ence. He  states  the  principle,  that  which  has 
been  received  from  history  through  experi- 
ence ;  the  mode  of  expressing  that  principle 
in  China  is  a  matter  for  the  Chinese  to  whom 
the  knowledge  is  conveyed.  All  the  develop- 
ments of  Christian  life  in  China  must  be  along 
Chinese  lines  ;  in  many  instances  these  will 
differ  little  from  what  the  West  knows  ;  in 
some,  there  will  be  considerable  divergence ; 
the  vital  matter  is  that  they  should  embody 
the  Faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  and 
.  should  spring  from  true  and  personal  con- 
viction. 

What  is  without  doubt  the  most  significant  Movement 
and  far-reaching  of  all  the  recent  develop-  unitydS 
ments  of  Christianity  in  China,  and  one  which 
cannot  fail  to  exercise  a  reflex  influence  upon 
the  West,  is  that  of  the  union  of  Christian 
Churches.  Whilst  it  is  easy  to  exaggerate 
the  harm  done  to  the  whole  cause  of  Christian 
progress  in  China  by  the  "  unhappy  divisions  " 
of  Christendom,  it  would  be  hard  to  over- 
state the  eagerness  of  almost  every  thought- 
ful Chinese  to  proceed  to  the  formation  of  a 


174    Regeneration  of  New  China 

Chinese  National  Christian  Church  on  a  basis 
of  comprehension.  The  Chinese  know  well 
enough  that  phase  of  human  nature  which 
results  in  sectarian  religious  grouping.  They 
have  it  in  Buddhism.  What  they  cannot 
understand,  and  are  unwilling  to  consent  to, 
is  the  exclusive  and  divisive  consequences  of 
the  same.  It  is  where  the  sectarian  spirit 
provokes  conflict  and  develops  proselytism 
and  confusion  that  Christianity  stands  dis- 
credited. The  following  expression  of 
educated  Christian  Chinese  opinion  upon  the 
subject x  is  worth  careful  consideration  : — 

"  What  we  aim  at  is  to  make  the  Church 
indigenous,  that  is,  to  make  it  distinctly 
Chinese  when  it  is  in  China,  to  be  manned 
with  Chinese  ministers  and  deacons,  and  sup- 
ported with  Chinese  money.  Form  of  organ- 
ization or  of  baptism,  presence  or  absence  of 
ritual  in  church  services,  whether  each  church 
should  be  a  unit  by  itself  or  rather  a  com- 
ponent part  of  a  larger  whole,  are  all  secondary 
questions.  They  could  be  what  men  wish 
them  to  be.  Inasmuch  as  God  has  made  us 
divergent  in  temperament  and  conviction,  let 
us  enjoy  the  liberty  of  maintaining  this  or 
that  form  of  Church  government,  this  or 
that  form  of  baptism  and  ritual,  according  to 

1  Chinas  Young  Men,  October,  1912. 


Development  of  Christian  Church     175 

our  sweet  pleasure.  The  fundamental  point 
to  which  we  must  rigidly  adhere  is  :  Are  we 
Christian  ;  are  we  living  as  Christ  would  have 
us  live  ?  " 

That  Christianity  is  historically  one,  and 
effectively  multitudinous,  is  an  anomaly  which 
has  arrested  the  attention  of  the  Chinese,  and, 
as  a  result,  the  opinion  is  freely  and  frequently 
expressed  that  there  is  no  sufficient  reason  why 
the  Christian  Church  in  China  should  be  bronght 
into  bondage  to  those  results  of  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal conflicts  of  the  West  which  we  generally 
deplore.  "  Speaking  generally,  denomination- 
alism  has  never  interested  the  Chinese  mind. 
He  finds  no  delight  in  it,  but  sometimes  he 
suffers  for  it,"  x  said  one  leading  Chinese 
Christian.  Another  declares  that  "  China  has 
no  use  for  your  Western  ecclesiastical  differ- 
ences." At  a  recent  Federation  conference 
yet  another  leading  Chinese  pastor 2  remarked, 
"  We  have  in  China  a  missionary  society  from 
the  United  States  'North,'  another  Society  of 
the  same  denomination  from  the  United 
States  '  South.'  We  had  no  Civil  War  between 
North  and  South  in  China."  Scarcely  ever  is 
a  conference  of  Chinese  Christians  held  but 
the    problem    of    abolishing    the    apparently 

1  The  Rev.  Cheng  Ching  Yi,  at  the  Edinburgh  Conference, 
2  PastorLi,  of  Soochow, 


176     Regeneration  of  New  China 

unnecessary  denominational  differences  of 
Christian  Missions  is  brought  up  for  discus- 
sion. One  such  conference  in  1912,1  at  which 
seven  separate  societies  and  five  distinct  de- 
nominations were  represented,  concluded  that 
if  the  Mission  Boards  could  not  see  their  way 
to  helping  forward  effective  unity  by  mutual 
recognition,  then  it  would  be  the  duty  of  the 
Chinese  Christians  to  go  forward  without  them. 
For  some  years  the  danger  of  a  breaking 
away  from  connection  with  the  Missionary 
Societies  on  the  part  of  numbers  of  leading 
Christians  and  their  Churches  has  been 
apparent.  Such  a  parting  is  altogether  dis- 
tinct from  the  natural  growth  of  the  move- 
ment for  self-government  and  self-support.  It 
would  be  one  of  protest,  if  not  of  antagonism, 
on  the  part  of  some  of  the  finest  Christians, 
who  had  lost  patience  with  the  slow-moving  and 
apparently  obstructive  policy  of  some  Foreign 
Boards  of  Christian  Missions.  The  effect  of  such 
a  breach  would  be  disastrous  not  only  to  the 
growing  Church  in  China,  which  will  need  for 
generations  all  the  help  and  stimulus  that 
the  experience  of  the  West  can  offer,  but  also 
to  the  Churches  of  the  West,  for  China  has 
unique  contributions  to  offer  to  the  great 
harvest    of    Christian    thought    and    practice 

1  Held  in  Hangchow, 


Development  of  Christian  Church      1 7? 

which  the  Universal  Church  should  gather. 
To  the  Chinese  Christian  to-day  it  appears, 
rightly  or  wrongly,  that  the  vested  interests 
of  the  Christian  Missions  of  the  West  are 
standing  in  the  way  of  the  accomplishment  of 
Christian  Unity  in  China  along  lines  of  com- 
prehension such  as  a  majority  of  the  leaders 
of  the  Christian  community  connected  with 
the  non-Roman  Churches  in  China  are  pre- 
pared for  and  earnestly  desire. 

The  National  Conference  of  the  Continua- 
tion Committee,  held  in  Shanghai,  1913,  and 
composed  of  Chinese  and  foreign  representa- 
tives of  Missions,  adopted,  as  a  common  name 
for  all  Christian  organizations,  "  The  Christian 
Church  in  China." 1  Plans  for  the  furtherance 
of  schemes  of  union  in  the  development  of 
organized  Christianity  in  China  were  adopted, 
and  action  contemplated,  of  a  much  stronger 
kind  than  the  West  is  ready  for,  having  in  view 
the  ideal  of  a  United  Church  of  Christ  in  China. 
Between  the  pressure  of  personal  and  inherited 
convictions,  the  policy  of  his  Mission  Board, 
and  the  Christian  desire  for  unity,  which  beset 
the    Christian    missionary,    the    difficulty    of 

1  The  Anglican  Missions  had  already  become  federated 
under  the  title  of  < *  The  Holy  Catholic  Church  of  China. "  It 
should  be  observed  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  was  not 
represented  at  this  Conference,  and  that  some  Anglican 
representatives  demurred  to  the  name, 


178     Regeneration  of  New  China 

wise  counsel  and  right  action  is  very  great. 
The  Christian  representative  of  the  Western 
Church  has  to  set  himself  in  the  position 
of  a  first  century  Christian  leader  in  China, 
and  to  give  to  the  Chinese  Church  with  which 
he  is  connected  just  as  much  as  is  essential 
to  its  spiritual  need  as  a  Christian  Church, 
and  as  it  is  his  faithful  duty  to  give  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  Missionary  Board  or  Com- 
mittee which  sends  him  forth,  not  neglectful 
of  the  lessons  of  Christian  history  in  the  West 
and  yet  mindful  of  the  fine  "  liberty  of  the 
Gospel."  Given  freedom  to  shape  its  growth 
in  accordance  with  the  conditions  of  time  and 
place,  however,  the  Church  will  not  fail  of  the 
power  to  fulfil  its  task  in  the  national  life. 

How  far,  then,  ought  the  Christian  mission- 
ary to  China  to  permit  that  form  of  Christian 
discipline  and  organization  for  which  he  stands 
as  a  Churchman,  be  he  Anglican,  Presby- 
terian, Congregational,  or  any  other,  to  prove 
a  hindrance  to  plans  for  the  anticipated  unity 
of  the  Church  in  China  ?  Is  not  the  problem  one 
which  the  Christian  Church  in  China  ought  to 
be  allowed  to  settle  for  itself  ?  On  the  basis 
of  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment and  its  teaching,  and  the  records  of 
Christian  ecclesiastical  history,  may  not  the 
Chinese  be  left  to  settle  problems  of  Church- 


Development  of  Christian  Church      179 

manship  for  themselves  ?  Is  not  the  guidance 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  promised  to  faithful 
believers,  operative  in  the  Christian  com- 
munity in  China,  as  here,  or  is  that  guidance 
so  geographically  or  historically  conditioned 
as  to  leave  the  unfettered  Chinese  Churches 
in  a  position  of  doubt  and  possible  disaster  ? 
These  are  the  questions  which  inevitably  arise 
from  the  development  of  the  Chinese  Church 
in  the  direction  of  union. 

To  bring  the  men  and  women  who  are  to  The  Task 
guide  the  life  of  the  Church  in  China  into  Missionary, 
touch  with  the  history  of  Christian  ex- 
perience in  the  corporate  life  of  the  Universal 
Church  and  in  the  individual  Christian  life, 
is  one  of  the  supreme  tasks  of  the  foreign 
missionary  in  China.  Christian  knowledge  is 
in  the  hands  of  the  Western  missionary 
teacher  in  order  that  he  may  pass  it  on 
to  those  by  whom  it  must  be  applied  to 
the  problems  of  China  and  the  needs  of 
Chinese  Christians.  In  the  class-room,  in 
personal  contact,  and  by  social  intercourse, 
in  the  organization  and  ceremonies  of 
the  Church,  and  by  the  force  of  daily 
example,  the  leader  from  the  West  opens 
the  springs  of  Christian  life  that  these 
may  flow  through  Chinese  channels  for  the 
enrichment  of  the  land,  and  the  satisfying  of 

G 


180     Regeneration  of  New  China 

* 

the  needs  of  its  people.  The  whole  process  of 
education,  religious  and  secular,  has  as  its 
aim  in  the  missionary  programme  in  China 
the  establishment  of  the  forces  which  alone 
can  touch  the  life  of  all  the  people  of  the  land 
for  Christ.  It  is  established  upon  the  basis 
of  a  true  evangelism — a  desire  to  reach  all 
with  the  message  of  Life.  The  equipment, 
spiritual  and  intellectual,  of  fit  men  and 
women  for  the  work  of  Christian  interpre- 
tation along  natural  lines  of  development 
is  the  task  of  missionary  education  in 
China  to  -  day.  The  institutional  work  of 
Christian  Missions  in  China  is  not  the  result 
of  mere  desire  for  place  and  authority  in 
Chinese  life,  nor  a  perversion  of  the  evangel- 
istic principle  ;  it  is  the  form  of  service  which 
the  opportunities  of  the  present  and  the  needs 
of  the  future  demand.  It  is  one  of  the 
quickest  and  surest  ways  of  accomplishing 
the  task  of  making  Christianity  indigenous 
in  China  and  of  sending  forth  the  Chinese 
messengers  of  the  Cross  to  China's  millions. 
When  a  sufficient  number  of  such  Chinese 
have  been  thoroughly  trained  for  this  out- 
standing service,  the  end  of  the  Christian 
task  in  China,  so  far  as  the  Western  Church 
is  concerned,  will  be  in  sight. 


Development  of  Christian  Church      181 

Bibliographical  Note 

In  Pastor  Esi,  by  Mrs  Howard  Taylor,  and  A  Chinese 
St  Francis,  or  the  Story  oj  Brother  Mao,  by  the  Kev. 
C.  Campbell  Brown,  will  be  found  sketches  of  Chinese 
Christian  pastors  which  may  be  supplemented  by  the 
pamphlets  describing  the  life  and  work  of  Chinese 
Christian  leaders  published  by  the  various  Mission 
Houses.  In  Dr  John  Ross'  Mission  Methods  in 
Manchuria,  chapters  v.,  vi.,  vii.  should  be  read.  See 
also  Some  Typical  Christians  of  South  China,  by  W.  S. 
Pakenham  Walsh.  The  Revival  in  Manchuria,  by  the 
Rev.  James  Webster,  gives  a  brief  account  of  a  typical 
experience  among  Chinese  Christians  to-day. 

Volume  II  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference  Report  ("  The 
Church  in  the  Mission  Field")  is  important.  The 
Education  oj  Women  in  China  and  Notable  Women  in 
Modern  China,  both  by  Miss  Margaret  Burton,  will 
help  to  an  understanding  of  the  problems  confronting 
the  Christian  women  of  China.  The  section  on 
"Woman's  Work"  in  The  China  Mission  Year  Booh 
for  1913  is  illuminating. 

u  The  Responsibility  of  the  Chinese  Church  towards 
the  New  China,"  an  article  by  the  author  of  the  present 
volume  in  The  East  and  the  West  for  October  1912, 
should  be  consulted. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH  AND  THE 
PROBLEMS  OF  THE  NATION 

The  New  With  the  advent  of  Christianity  to  China,  a 
new  note  was  sounded  in  the  religions  of  the 
land  and  one  which  necessarily  affected  the 
whole  life  and  activity  of  those  who  came 
within  its  range  of  influence.  A  religion  of 
personal  redemption  and  individual  responsi- 
bility to  the  one  personal  God  has  brought 
with  it  an  altogether  new  sense  of  human 
value  and  duty.  The  convinced,  earnest 
Christian,  under  the  constraint  of  an  evangel 
which  makes  him  perforce  a  messenger  of  re- 
demption to  men,  finds  himself  at  variance 
with  much  of  the  life  around  him,  and  he  enters 
into  fresh  and  profoundly  disturbing  relations 
with  his  fellows.  He  now  possesses  not  simply 
a  new  faith  and  mode  of  worship,  but 
a  new  point  of  view  and  one  which  does 
not  permit  him  to  acquiesce  in  the  old  order 
just  because  it  is  old,  or  to  rest  content  with 
things  as  they  are.  Because  he  is  a  convert 
he  is  also  a  crusader.     He  is  now  concerned, 

182 


Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      183 


not  merely  with  the  welfare  of  his  own  soul, 
but  with  the  salvation  of  his  brother.  Hence 
it  is  that  the  inherently  aggressive  nature  of 
the  Christian  faith  has  everywhere  begun  to 
affect  extensively,  and  to  disturb  not  a  little, 
the  old  order  of  Chinese  life.  It  has  thrown 
into  clear  light  the  failure,  both  in  ideals  and 
in  practice,  of  the  moral  and  religious  codes  of 
China  either  to  uplift  the  nation  or  to  redeem 
the  souls  of  men.  The  problem  of  the  indi- 
vidual has  acquired  a  prominence  that  it  has 
never  had  apart  from  JChristianity.  In  the 
light  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  there  has  been 
a  re -discovery  of  the  soul  of  the  individual 
Chinese. 

The  theory  of  social  responsibility  upon 
which  the  laws  and  customs  of  China  have 
been  reared  must  be  kept  in  mind  in  consider- 
ing the  relationship  of  the  Gospel  to  the 
Chinese  people.  Christianity  in  China  has  christian- 
never  been  able  to  isolate  itself  from  the  Chinese 
common  life  of  the  people,  or  to  withdraw  its 
adherents  from  their  old  surroundings  and 
make  of  them  separate  and  self-contained 
communities.  The  social  life  of  the  nation  is 
too  complex  and  inter-related  to  permit  this 
to  be  done  by  Chinese  as  such,  whilst  the 
genius  of  Christianity,  with  its  keen  sense 
of  public  duty,  makes  it  impossible  for  the 


COMMUN- 
ISM. 


184     Regeneration  of  New  China 

Christian  disciple  to  hold  aloof  from  the  life 
around  him,  even  if  social  conditions  allowed 
him  to  do  so.  The  outlook  of  the  Chinese 
upon  life  is  not  individualistic  but  com- 
munistic, and  the  fact  that  the  race-unit  is 
found  in  the  family  has  created  at  once  a 
great  opportunity  and  a  special  difficulty  for 
the  Christian  appeal.  Moreover,  in  so  far 
as  the  Gospel  was  declared  to  China  by  the 
lips  and  lives  of  men  and  women  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  culture,  the  conflict  of  ideals  was  in- 
evitably deepened.  The  aggressive  and  con- 
vinced individualism  of  our  race  was  added 
to  the  individualism  proceeding  from  the 
Gospel,  and  an  undue  emphasis  given  to  an 
inherent  truth.  All  Chinese  law  and  custom 
combine  to  visit  the  sins  of  children  upon 
their  parents,  as  well  as  those  of  parents  upon 
their  children,  and  to  fasten  upon  the  whole 
family  connection  responsibility  for  all  the 
acts  of  wrong-doers. 
The  Family  Family  relationship  does  not  end  in  China 
Qanhe  where  it  ends  with  us.  The  family  proper 
consists  of  all  the  direct  relations  linked  with 
the  oldest  surviving  male  member  of  it.  If 
he  should  be  a  great-grand-parent,  then  he 
and  the  three  succeeding  generations  make 
one  family,  while  behind  the  family  stands 
the  clan,  composed  of  all  those  who  look  back 


Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      185 

to  a  common  ancestry  and  are  bound  together 
by  the  ancestral  hall.  Frequently  enough,  a 
whole  village  is  entirely  in  the  possession 
of  one  clan,  with  common  property  and 
common  interests,  and  howsoever  they  may 
disagree  internally,  when  the  occasion  demands 
it  they  are  united  as  one,  in  defence  or  in  de- 
fiance. The  heads  of  the  clan  are  responsible 
for  the  self-government  of  it  under  the  law 
of  the  land,  and  both  their  power  and  their 
responsibilities  are  great.  The  village  or  clan 
"  elders,"  heads  of  families,  graduates  and 
some  others  whose  force  or  character  or  wealth 
demands  it,  are  the  members  of  an  ill- defined 
"  Council  "  whose  duties  and  powers  are  un- 
recorded, but  are  nevertheless  real  and  far- 
reaching.1  To  act  in  defiance  of  the  clan 
leaders  requires  very  considerable  force  of 
conviction  on  the  part  of  the  individual,  who, 
in  the  event  of  being  expelled  from  the  clan, 
loses  all  the  material  interests  as  well  as  the 
moral  and  real  support  which  the  clan  can 
give. 

In  many  thousands  of  individual  in- 
stances Christianity  has  come  into  conflict 
with  the  clan  system  and  its  ancestral  claims. 
Nevertheless,  when  once  Christianity  becomes 
paramount  within  the  clan  its  good  influence 

1  See  Village  Life  in  China.     A.  H.  Smith.     Chap.  21. 


1 86     Regeneration  of  New  China 

proves  more  effectual  than  can  be  the  case 
in  the  West.  The  clan  system  conserves  very 
much  that  is  of  real  value,  much  that  is  at 
the  heart  of  the  national  polity.  At  the  same 
time  it  provides  a  system  of  local  self-govern- 
ment with  which  every  Chinese  is  intimately 
acquainted,  and  which  is  likely  to  have  con- 
siderable influence  on  the  organization  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  China.  So  far,  however, 
as  it  stands  in  the  way  of  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  value  of  the  individual  soul,  and 
hinders  individual  redemption  or  submerges 
the  individual  conscience,  the  family  and  clan 
system  must  be  modified  and  reconstructed. 
The  development  of  a  sense  of  human  duty 
towards  God  and  man,  and  the  stirring  of 
the  individual  conscience  in  China,  can  only 
follow  such  a  spiritual  conception  of  human 
life  and  its  values  as  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
gives.  From  lack  of  this  the  moral  life  of 
the  nation  is  decaying  and  the  most  serious 
national  dangers  are  threatening.  Human 
life  is  not  sacred  in  China  because  the  ideal 
relationship  of  man  with  God  is  unknown. 
When  that  knowledge  has  been  woven  into 
the  closely-knit  threads  of  the  family  and 
clan  life  of  the  Chinese  people,  a  marvellously 
perfect  texture  will  be  produced. 

In     commercial     and     provincial     life     a 


■  •  >• 


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Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      187 

democratic  system  of  co-operative  guilds  or  The  Guild, 
clubs  has  long  been  in  vogue  in  China. 
Merchants  and  men  of  a  similar  trade 
are  gathered  together  into  trade  guilds,  by 
which  the  conditions  of  commerce  and  labour 
are  determined,  and  in  which  every  Chinese 
trader  of  any  weight  is  enrolled.  The  Club, 
or  Hwei-Kwan,  serves  the  purpose  of  uniting 
the  men  of  any  one  province  who  are  living 
in  another  district  than  their  own  into  a  league 
of  defence  and  benevolence,  by  which  common 
interests  are  served.  One  of  the  principal 
duties  of  these  clubs  is  the  provision  for  the 
care  and  burial  of  the  dead.  Conspicuous 
among  these  provincial  clubs  are  the  Shensi, 
Hunan,  Ning-po  and  Canton  Club  Houses. 
These  are  found  in  almost  every  considerable 
city,  their  provincials  or  citizens  being 
commercially  aggressive  beyond  the  rest  of 
their  compatriots.  With  both  guilds  and 
clubs  are  connected  certain  religious  cere- 
monials which  affect  the  lives  of  Christians 
in  membership  with  them.1 

In  the  course  of  the  growth  of  the  Christian  Resultant 
Church  there  is  bound  to  come  a  point  at  which  conduct5 
the   Christian  organization   enters    into   cor-   . 
porate  contact  with  some  part  of  the  political 
and    social    systems    of     Chinese    life,    and 

1  Cf.  The  Guilds  of  China.     Morse. 
G* 


1 88     Regeneration  of  New  China 

questions  involving  conflict  of  interest  inevit- 
ably arise.     With  the  clan,  the  first  to  occur 
is  the  regular  worship  of  ancestors  and  the 
services    of    the    ancestral    hall.     But    even 
should  this  difficulty  be  successfully  overcome, 
others    must   follow.     The    arrangement    of 
local    feasts,    frequently    connected    with    a 
heathen  temple  and  accompanied  by  theat- 
rical  representations,    are   in    the    hands   of 
the    clan    council,    or    occasionally,    in   large 
townships  or  cities,  under  a  kind  of  "  ward  ' 
committee.     These  decide  to  levy  a  rate  for  the 
purpose  desired.    What  is  the  earnest  Christian 
to  do  ?     Or  yet  again,  in  a  certain  district 
a  bridge  requires  rebuilding,  a  road  falls  out 
of  repair,  a  canal  has  to  be  dug,  or  a  stream 
deepened,   and  the  inhabitants  are  assessed 
for  the   purpose.      Part   of   the   whole   pro- 
gramme includes  an  idolatrous  ceremony  and 
feasting   at   a  temple ;    Taoist   priests   must 
appease  the  spirits  of  the  earth  and  the  water, 
and  payment  must  bemade  for  these  things  also. 
Again,  what  is  the  Christian  to  do  in  such 
case  ?     If  he  does  not  pay,  he  is  marked  as 
anti- social,  or  even  is  an  enemy  of  the  public 
good — the  last  thing  in  the  world  of  which  a 
good  Christian  anywhere  should  be  suspected. 
That  the  hostility,  of  the  Taoist  or  Buddhist 
priest  is  incurred  is  a  slight  thing  and  an  in- 


Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      189 

evitable,  but  that  the  disapproval  of  the 
whole  community  should  be  incurred,  when  the 
Christian  even  more  than  his  neighbour 
desires  the  welfare  of  all,  is  a  tragedy  indeed. 
Through  it,  however,  in  thousands  of  instances, 
the  Chinese  Christian  has  had  to  go,  and  be 
content  to  regain  confidence  slowly  by  an  exhi- 
bition of  neighbourliness  and  good-will  through 
channels  consistent  with  a  good  conscience. 
In  a  non-Christian  community,  working 
along  co-operative  and  democratic  lines, 
as  in  the  public  life  of  China,  the  stirring  of 
conscience,  such  as  must  follow  the  accept- 
ance of  Christian  teaching,  is  bound  to  pro- 
mote the  individualistic  temper  and  result  in 
temporary  conflict.  Man}'  serious  quarrels 
between  Christians  and  their  neighbours  have 
arisen  from  this  cause. 

Forty  years  ago,  a  young  scholar  living 
near  Shanghai  was  brought  to  the  knowledge 
of  Christ,  Being  a  young  man  of  great  intel- 
lectual promise,  the  hopes  of  his  family  were 
centred  upon  him,  and  their  disappointment 
at  his  conversion  ,soon  kindled  a  flame  of 
hatred  in  their  hearts.  He  was  cut  off  from 
the  family,  then  from  the  clan,  and  went  into 
social  exile.  By  faithful  Christian  service  as 
a  teacher,  in  course  of  years  he  gained  within 
the  circle  of  Shanghai  Christianity  a  reputation 


190    Regeneration  of  New  China 

for  sincerity  and  scholarship  which  was  not 
unnoticed  by  the  clan  that  had  expelled  him. 
Towards  the  close  of  his  life  his  was  easily  the 
most  distinguished  name  connected  with  the 
whole  clan  roll,  and  his  had  been  erased  !  He 
was  therefore  invited  to  allow  himself  to  be 
given  a  post  of  honour  in  the  clan  life.  His 
reply  was  that  he  would  gladly  do  so  if  the 
elders  would  make  it  a  rule  for  future  guidance 
that  no  member  should  ever  thereafter  be 
expelled  on  the  score  of  religious  belief.  The 
request  was  granted,  the  rule  made,  and  re- 
ligious toleration  prevails  within  that  clan.  The 
incident  is  illustrative  of  the  working  out  of 
the  Christian  principle  in  relation  to  the  social 
difficulties  that  invariably  arise  at  the  first 
clash  of  old  customs  with  new  conviction. 

The  serious  trouble  that  threatened  the 
very  existence  of  the  Christian  Church  in 
China  ten  years  or  more  ago  through  the  con- 
flicts in  the  Law  Courts  between  Christians 
and  non- Christians,  Protestant  converts  and 
Roman  Catholics,  had  much  of  its  rise 
in  the  application  of  the  clan  principle  to  a 
recognized  weakness  of  Christianity  in  China 
as  a  foreign  religion  acting  in  dependence 
upon  foreign  treaties.  Whilst  the  freedom 
given  to  the  Christian  missionary  under 
the     treaties     made     aggressive     evangelisa- 


Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      191 

tion  possible,  the  protection  from  political 
and  social  persecution  afforded  by  these 
treaties  to  the  Chinese  converts  opened  a  way 
for  all  manner  of  unanticipated  abuses  of 
power.  The  clause  in  the  Treaty  that  gave 
to  foreign  consuls  the  protection  of  Christian 
converts  from  persecution  is  thus  worded : 
'  All  persons  shall  be  free  to  preach  and 
practise  these  religions  (Roman  Catholic 
and  Protestant  Christianity)  without  molesta- 
tion or  interference."  Many  a  missionary  fell 
victim  to  designing  Chinese  who  simulated 
conversion  in  order  to  gain  admission  to  the 
Church,  and  thereafter  brought  personal  or 
family  quarrels  into  the  range  of  "  molesta- 
tion or  interference,"  in  order  to  seek  the  aid 
of  the  foreign  religion  and  to  be  avenged  of 
their  adversaries.  Missionaries  found  their 
names  used  in  Chinese  courts  of  law  in  cases 
of  which  they  had  no  knowledge,  the  magis- 
trate being  threatened  with  an  appeal  to  the 
foreign  consul.  Whole  clans  identified  them- 
selves with  a  Protestant  Church  in  order  to 
seek  protection  from  the  designs  of  other 
clans  with  whom  they  were  at  loggerheads, 
and  who  had  in  turn  put  themselves  under 
the  protection  of  the  Roman  Catholics.  It 
was  only  by  cutting  free  in  almost  every 
case,  genuine  or  otherwise,  from  the  Chinese 


192     Regeneration  of  New  China 

Law  Courts  and  the  protection  of  consular 
authority  for  Chinese  converts,  that  the 
Reformed  Churches  were  at  last  able  to  con- 
vince Chinese  officialdom  that  they  did  not 
seek  secular  authority  or  wish  to  override 
Chinese  law  by  making  Christianity  an 
iyrvperium  in  imperio,  destructive  of  the 
national  interest.1  It  has  been  amply  proved 
that  the  way  of  missionary  success  does  not 
lie  along  the  line  of  interference  with  the 
administration  of  Chinese  justice,  however 
imperfect  as  justice  it  may  appear  to  be. 
Effective  religious  toleration  in  China  has 
made  such  non-interference  generally  possible, 
and  the  difficulty  of  "  missionary  lawsuits  " 
has  disappeared.2 
christian-      While  it  became  the  obvious  duty  of  the 

ITY  AND  . 

social  Christian  Church  in  China  to  avoid  all  appear- 
ance of  conflict  with  the  law  of  the  land,  and 
all  suggestion  of  enmity  towards  those  who 
exercise  authority,  with  many  of  the  customs 
of  the  people  it  has  been  increasingly  needful 
for  Christianity  to  wage  an  unmitigated 
conflict.  Moreover,  the  standards  of  life 
which  the  Christian  Gospel  has  introduced  to 

1  Official  judicial  status  was  gained  by  Mons.  Favier  for 
Roman  Catholic  Bishops  and  Priests,  and  offered  by  the 
Chinese  Government  to  Protestant  missionaries  in  1898,  but 
refused. 

2  Cf.  Ross  :  Mission  Methods  in  Manchuria.     Chap.  11. 


REFORM  IN 
CHINA 


Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      193 

China  have  rallied  the  progressive  life  of 
China  around  them ;  Christianity  is  looked 
to  as  giving  a  strong  lead  to  the  forces  in 
China  that  are  pressing  for  social  reform. 
Certain  evils,  recognized  as  such  but  yet 
tolerated,  have  been  allowed  to  grow  up 
under  the  shelter  of  law.  Not  only  is  Con- 
fucianism powerless  to  deal  with  these  ;  one  of 
the  chief  indictments  against  Confucianism  is 
that  it  has  been  powerless  to  prevent  the  rise 
and  growth  of  acknowledged  vices ;  nor,  in 
general,  have  its  exponents  lifted  up  their  voice 
against  them. 

Such  an  evil  as  the  sale  of  children  by  their  Domestic 
own  parents  for  domestic  slavery  and  for  worse  advice, 
purposes  is  a  case  in  point.  Girl  children 
have  of  course  been  the  chief  sufferers  in 
such  cases.  The  perversion  of  the  doctrine  of 
filial  piety  has  been  a  definitely  contributing 
cause  in  the  development  of  this  evil.  The 
periodic  famines  and  kindred  disasters  to  which 
parts  of  China  have  been  subject,  and  the 
chronic  poverty  of  a  large  proportion  of  its 
people,  have  provided  incentives  to  it.  A  traffic 
in  children  between  parts  of  the  land  of  China, 
carried  on  by  Chinese,  is  one  of  the  outstand- 
ing social  evils  of  to-day.  A  Chinese  writes 
in   the    World's    Chinese   Students'    Journal^1 

1  March  issue,  1912. 


194     Regeneration  of  New  China 

dealing  with  this  subject :  "I  know  of  no 
nation  but  China  which  has,  up  to  this  day, 
recognized  the  sale  of  its  own  native-born 
children  as  within  the  legal  powers  of  parents. 
The  invariable  excuse  for  the  act  ...  is  the 
poverty  of  the  parents.  .  .  .  This  very  excuse 
is  a  serious  reflection  on  the  philanthropic 
arrangements  of  the  Chinese  nation  and  on 
the  duties  of  a  State  to  its  citizens.  There  is 
a  yet  sadder  and  more  serious  consideration,  and 
that  is,  that ...  in  consequence  of  the  legality  of 
the  sale  of  children  there  exists  a  numerous  class 
whose  sole  livelihood  is  the  traffic  in  children 
for  immoral  purposes,  and  of  kidnappers  who 
steal  away  the  hope  and  joy  of  honest  parents 
and  plunge  the  kindest  hearts  into  the 
bitterest  depths  of  unavailing  sorrow."  Con- 
cluding his  appeal  the  writer  urges  his  fellows, 
in  high  flown  terms,  to  "arise  in  the  wrath 
of  human  indignation,  and,  hurling  these 
things  from  their  power,  cry  with  one  trium- 
phant shout :  ;  Free  China  can  tolerate  no 
slavery.' '  The  editorial  comment  upon  this 
article  notes  that  domestic  slavery  in  China 
has  not  been  altogether  immoral,  nor  invari- 
ably cruel  (a  statement  undeniably  true),  but 
goes  on  to  remark :  "  The  worst  of  the  evils 
arising  therefrom  is  the  drafting  of  young  girls 
into  houses  of  ill  fame,  in  many  cases  brutally, 


Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      195 

to  live  a  life  of  degradation  and  shame.  If 
such  a  practice  was  tolerated  in  days  gone  by, 
it  is  no  longer  in  accordance  with  the  ideals 
and  principles  of  a  now  free  nation,  and  it  is 
therefore  the  primary  duty  of  our  authorities 
to  take  steps  against  the  existence  of  this 
evil."  Here  is  public  opinion  taking  note 
of  the  fact  of  new  standards  of  social  life. 
The  moral  ideal  which  it  has  in  mind  is 
that  of  Christianity. 

There  is  a  work  in  Shanghai,  carried  on  to- 
day by  a  handful  of  noble  Christian  women, 
which  has  received  from  Chinese  sources 
constant  assistance  and  support,  and  which 
deals  especially  with  the  case  of  the  girl  sold 
into  immoral  life  in  the  many  Chinese  brothels 
of  that  port.  It  is  known  as  the  "Door  of 
Hope,"  and  it  has  been  to  many  hundreds 
of  Chinese  girls  the  means  of  escape  from  a 
life  of  slavery  and  vice.  "  Two  things  are 
remarkable  in  this  work  of  almost  divine  com- 
passion— a  relapse  is  practically  unknown, 
and  it  is  the  Chinese  who  are  most  helpful 
in  encouraging  it."  To  the  Chinese  who  have 
eyes  to  see,  the  outstanding  significance  of 
such  an  enterprise  must  be  its  Christian  origin. 

The    kindred    question    of    polygamy    has  Marriage 

-ij-i  »  1    .  i   •  •    •  *  ••        Customs. 

already  been  reterred  to,  and  it  is  a  question 
that    goes    right    to    the    heart    of    Chinese 


196    Regeneration  of  New  China 

social  and  family  life.  Although  monogamy 
is  the  strict  law  of  China,  it  is  not  so  to  the 
exclusion  of  concubinage,  and  the  custom  of 
"  secondary  wives,"  which  probably  originated 
from  the  supposed  essential  requirement  of 
sons  for  ancestor  worship,  is  very  common. 
Confucius  himself  was  the  son  of  a  secondary 
wife.  The  custom  of  early  betrothal,  and  the 
treatment  of  it  by  the  parents  as  a  business 
transaction  of  a  family  nature  which  concerned 
the  elders,  but  not  the  children  who  were 
being  betrothed,  has  also  encouraged  young 
men  to  follow  their  parents'  wish  in  the  official 
marriage,  and  at  the  same  time  to  contract 
another  in  accordance  with  their  own  desires. 
Where  there  is  no  choice  given,  no  sense  of 
moral  responsibility  may  be  expected.  The 
sanctity  of  marriage  must  be  enforced  if  the 
evil  of  polygamy  is  to  be  overcome,  and  the 
present  system  of  betrothals  and  early  marriage 
must  certainly  be  modified.  A  deeper  regard 
for  the  natural  rights  of  the  individual  must 
be  secured.  This  the  Christian  Gospel  gives, 
and  in  giving  it  enforces  also  a  moral  claim. 
Opinion  in  China  is  steadily  falling  into  line 
with  Christian  teaching  in  this  matter,  and 
although  it  is  not  likely,  nor  indeed  neces- 
sarily requisite,  that  the  oriental  system  of 
betrothals  arranged  in  family  council   should 


Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      197 

be  overthrown  (since  Chinese  life  requires 
Christianizing,  not  Anglicizing),  a  greater 
regard  for  the  tastes  of  the  young  people 
of  the  family  is  certain  to  obtain  as  the 
years  go  by.  Within  the  Church  this  is 
already  apparent,  and  the  age  of  marriage 
on  the  part  of  young  Christians  is  higher  by 
years  than  in  the  community  outside,  while, 
of  course,  the  abuses  of  marriage  can  never 
be  tolerated  within  the  Christian  Church  of 
China  as  they  are  in  Chinese  life  outside  the 
Church. 

Closely  knit  with  this  question  are  two  Poverty, 
great  problems  of  Chinese  public  life — poverty 
and  the  status  of  woman.  Attention  has 
again  and  again  been  drawn  to  the  excessive 
population  of  China,  and  the  bearing  of  this 
upon  the  terrible  problem  of  poverty.  While 
it  is  true  that  poverty  in  China  is,  in  normal 
periods,  not  so  fearful  an  evil  as  in  the  West, 
owing  to  tjtie  fact  of  acknowledged  family  ties, 
and  also  to  the  closer  touch  of  the  Chinese 
people  with  the  land,  yet,  when  a  natural 
calamity,  flood  or  drought,  touches  China, 
the  results  are  more  dire  and  more  wide- 
spread than  in  any  Western  land.  An 
enormous  proportion  of  the  whole  popula- 
tion of  China  lives  just  above  the  border 
line   of  want,   and  generation  by  generation 


198     Regeneration  of  New  China 

the  population  increases  exorbitantly.  Large 
families  are  the  rule,  and  the  larger  the  family 
the  worse,  proportionately,  is  the  condition 
of  its  womanhood.  Mothers  and  daughters 
suffer  alike,  and  suffer  severely.  The  present 
conception  of  marriage,  family  life  and  duty 
is  economically  and  morally  degrading  to 
womanhood, 
status  of  Into  this  set  of  social  and  moral  relation- 

ships Christianity  comes,  and  whilst  it  deals 
uncompromisingly  with  polygamy  and  every 
form  of  social  and  individual  vice,  it  is  bound 
to  realize  the  danger  attending  iconoclastic 
treatment  of  matters  concerning  betrothal, 
marriage,  and  the  relationship  of  the  sexes, 
all  of  which  are  involved  in  the  consideration 
of  public  morality  in  China.  Dealing  with 
this  aspect  of  the  case  the  recent  Shanghai 
National  Conference1  agreed  that :  "In  view 
of  the  misconceptions  which  prevail  as  to 
woman's  freedom  and  power,  it  seems  well, 
whilst  we  encourage  China  in  the  many 
reforms  advocated,  to  take  a  conservative 
view   as    to    the  position    and    privilege    of 

1  That  held  (1913)  at  the  instance  of  the  Edinburgh  Con- 
tinuation Committee  under  the  Chairmanship  of  Dr  Mott, 
and  composed  of  representatives  elected  by  a  series  of 
provincial  Conferences  covering  the  whole  field  of  Chinese 
Missions  and  including  all  the  non- Roman  and  non-Greek 
Communions. 


Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      199 

women,  and  to  impress  upon  her  that  the 
elevation  of  the  home  is  the  true  goal  of  all 
social  service." 

So  also  Mr  Ho  Heng-hwa,  a  leading  Chinese 
publicist,  treating  of  the  relationship  of  the 
sexes,  says  : — "  The  social  upheaval  must 
naturally  shake  the  very  foundations  of  our 
family  life  and  society  .  .  .  While  we  believe 
that  women  should  not  be  regarded  as  the 
slaves  of  men,  but  rather  their  companions 
and  helpmates,  with  certain  liberty  of  action 
and  freedom  of  will,  we  do  not  advocate  that 
they  should  be  put  on  the  same  footing  as 
men.  .  .  .  The  woman  should  co-operate  to 
secure  comfort  and  happiness  by  making  the 
home  the  sanctuary  of  love,  trust,  and  fellow- 
ship, by  the  proper  bringing  up  of  the  children, 
and  by  careful  attention  to  the  household 
duties.  .  .  .  Education  will  one  day  teach  every 
man  and  every  woman  to  keep  his  and  her 
place,  and  until  this  is  reached  there  is  danger 
in  too  much  freedom  of  intercourse  between 
the  sexes.  .  .  .  It  is  a  mistaken  chivalry  to 
give  too  ready  an  ear  to  the  clamouring  of 
women  for  equality.  It  is  unmanly  to  treat 
them  as  lower  beings,  and  equally  unmanly 
to  permit  them  to  do  all  that  men  by  nature 
should  do.  Women  must  be  the  companions 
of  men,  their  helpmates  in  the  hours  of  joy 


200    Regeneration  of  New  China 

and  sorrow,  the  builders  of  the  family,  the 
solace  of  the  home,  and  the  emblems  of 
purity  and  chastity."  All  this  exhortation, 
addressed  to  a  Chinese  public,  is  the  teaching 
of  Christianity,  not  of  Confucianism. 

Among  other  findings  recorded  by  the 
National  Conference  in  Shanghai  the  follow- 
ing is  particularly  noteworthy.  "  In  view 
of  the  fact  that  women  will  have  a  large 
share  in  the  new  national  life,  and  that  they 
must  meet  false  views  as  to  the  most 
fundamental  relationships  of  life,  as  well  as 
new  temptations  and  responsibilities,  the 
importance  of  character-training  cannot  be 
over-estimated.  The  walls  which  guarded  the 
young  girl  are  being  demolished  rapidly,  and 
the  spiritual  walls  which  can  protect  her  purity 
and  peace  are  rising  only  slowly.  The  girls 
who  leave  Christian  homes  and  schools  to 
enter  these  new  conditions  must  know  more 
of  the  world  than  their  mothers  did,  must 
have  more  poise  and  self-control,  and  above 
all  they  must  have  the  spiritual  power  of  the 
indwelling  Christ  and  the  sense  of  a  divine 
call  to  service.  .  .  ." 

"  The  changing  customs  and  the  coming 
into  public  life  of  Chinese  women  challenge 
Christian  women,  both  Chinese  and  foreign, 
to  wider  work  in  the  field  of  service,  and  this 


Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      201 

service  will  form  a  point  of  contact  between 
Christians  and  non-Christians." 

The  ideals  of  New  China  respecting  the 
position  of  women  are  rapidly  approximating 
to  those  of  Christianity.  Woman  in  China 
already  owes  much  to  the  Christian  teaching, 
and  will  in  coming  years  find  her  indebtedness 
increasingly  deepened. 

An  aspect  of  Chinese  life  which  conditions  "Face"  and 
the  very  atmosphere  of  China  is  the  cl  e' 
question  of  "  face."  This  is  an  entirely  in- 
definable thing,  being  in  part  "  reputation," 
in  part  "  self-respect  "  or  even  "  pride."  To 
lose  "  face  "  is  to  suffer  a  loss  which  is  unfor- 
gettable, though  often  enough  inexplicable  to 
the  untutored  foreigner.  Public  reproof  for 
faults,  even  of  a  heinous  kind,  is  the  occasion  of 
loss  of  face,  far  more  than  is  the  committal 
of  the  said  faults.  Shame  follows  not  so  much 
the  doing  of  wrong  as  the  making  public  of 
it  on  the  part  of  others.  Contemptuous 
treatment  and  the  use  of  certain  opprobrious 
names  are  also  contributory  causes,  and  "  loss 
of  face  "  is  a  very  real  thing  to  a  Chinese, 
leading  him  in  certain  cases  to  commit  suicide. 
In  other  cases  men  and  women  smarting  under 
deadly  insult  have  been  known  to  take  to 
their  beds  and  resolutely  die,  from  sheer 
distaste  for   a   life   in  which  they  have   lost 


202     Regeneration  of  New  China 

their  sense  of  self  -  respect.  Men  of  high 
official  and  social  standing  who  are  under 
the  authority  of  Government  are  invited, 
as  a  mark  of  clemency,  to  commit  suicide, 
in  order  to  "  cheat  the  gallows  "  and  to 
"save  their  face."  It  is  easy  to  laugh  and 
easy  to  be  angry  at  the  Chinese  standpoint  in 
this  connection;  the  new  relationships  in  the 
life  of  China,  and  also  the  influence  of 
Christianity  upon  it,  are  bound  to  alter 
considerably  the  attitude  now  invariably 
maintained.  All  the  tendencies  in  China  to- 
day are  towards  plainer  speaking,  though 
much  still  remains  to  be  accomplished.  But 
at  the  heart  of  the  theory  of  "  face  '  there 
seems  to  lie  a  great  truth,  and  one  with  which 
real  Christianity  has  much  in  common.  It  is 
that  there  is  a  point  beyond  which  it  is  not 
right  for  judgment  and  reproof  to  go,  lest  it 
should  shut  the  door  to  repentance  and  return. 
The  public  upbraiding  of  the  sinner  means 
"  loss  of  face,"  and  the  very  road  of  repent- 
ance is  sometimes  closed  thereby.  "  If  thy 
brother  sin  against  thee  go  and  tell  him  his 
fault  between  thee  and  him  alone  ;  if  he  shall 
hear  thee,  thou  hast  gained  thy  brother."1 
Suicide  is  a  problem  with  which  this  theory 

1  Cp.  MacGowan  :   Men   and   Manners  in   Modern   China. 
Ch.  23. 


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Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      203 

of  "  face  "  is  intimately  connected.  The  new 
spirit  manifesting  itself  in  China  is  taking 
note  of  this  matter  also.  Protests  made 
by  Chinese  against  the  custom  of  suicide 
are  appearing  in  the  Chinese  Press,  and 
the  matter  has  been  the  subject  of  con- 
siderable discussion.  The  right  of  a  man  to 
end  his  life,  if  he  so  wills,  has  been  claimed  and 
denied.  It  is  pointed  out  that  to  take  from 
womanhood  in  China  the  right  of  self-destruc- 
tion would  be  to  deny  to  women  the  one 
great  weapon  they  hold  for  their  defence. 
For  in  very  many  instances  threatened  or 
attempted  suicide,  as  the  last  resort  of  the 
weak  and  ill-used,  has  been  their  one  refuge 
from  injustice,  since  to  have  the  cause  of 
suicide  at  their  door  is  unbearable  to  all 
Chinese,  and  accounted  next  to  murder.  Out 
of  a  desire  to  be  revenged  of  their  enemies, 
countless  Chinese,  when  every  other  means  of 
offence  has  failed  them,  have  taken  their  own 
lives.  The  whole  campaign  of  Christianity, 
however,  brings  into  being  a  new  sense  of  the 
inherent  value  of  human  life.  With  it  this 
great  evil  of  suicide  must  first  be  modified, 
and  in  the  end  cease  to  be  a  feature  of  the 
national  life. 

Along  similar  lines  the  movement  that  is  infanticide, 
bringing  to  an  end  the  curse  of  infanticide  is 


204     Regeneration  of  New  China 

also  working.  The  new  sense  of  the  value  of 
womanhood  joins  hands  with  the  teaching 
concerning  the  sacredness  of  life  to  protect  girl 
infants  from  the  selfish  wickedness  of  depraved 
parents.  It  has  been  asserted  that  the 
extent  to  which  the  crime  of  killing  girl 
babies  prevails  has  been  overstated  in  mis- 
sionary literature.  Possibly  so.  But  it  still 
remains  true"  that  almost  every  Christian 
Church  in  China  finds  among  the  women  who 
are  connected  with  it  those  who  know  of,  or 
have  shared,  in  tins  evil.  There  is  the  further 
proof  that  the  "  benevolent  homes  '  which 
are  found  all  over  China,  opened  by  Chinese 
who  desire  to  practise  benevolence,  and  to  "  ac- 
quire merit  "  are  invariably  Girl  Foundling 
Homes,  and  their  declared  intention  is  to  care 
for  those  female  infants  whose  parents  wish 
to  desert  them  or  to  put  them  out  of  the  way. 
Mothers  who  give  birth  to  several  girl  children 
and  no  boys  are  condemned  and  abused  until 
they  are  glad  enough  to  get  their  offspring,  or 
even  themselves,  finally  disposed  of.  Christi- 
anity is  set,  as  with  a  face  of  flint,  for  the 
saving  of  womanhood  from  birth  to  death, 
and  against  the  destruction  of  life,  whether 
by  suicide  or  by  infanticide,  and  China  is 
responding. 

It   is   not   by  negative   virtues  or  by  the 


Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      205 

reproof  of  its  presence  alone  that  the  Christian 
Gospel  is  uplifting  the  life  of  China.  By  the 
side  of  the  anti- opium  movement  stands  the 
Red  Cross  movement ;  the  overthrow  of  old 
evil  and  the  establishment  of  new  good  go 
hand  in  hand.  The  Christian  Church  is  not 
content  merely  to  pull  down.  The  study  of 
the  life  of  our  Lords  in  the  Gospel,  which  has 
been  an  outstanding  element  in  missionary 
success  in  China,  has  without  doubt  had  an 
enormous  influence  upon  all  those  who  have 
seriously  considered  the  claim  of  the  Gospel. 
That "  the  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered 
unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a 
ransom  for  many  "  has  impressed  China  in 
a  marked  degree,  and  thousands  of  those  who 
have  withstood  the  claim  of  Christ  to  a  personal 
surrender  of  their  lives  are  striving  to  follow 
His  example  of  service.  "  Benevolence  "  is  one 
of  the  prescribed  virtues  of  the  Confucian  Code 
and  in  many  ways  the  Chinese  have  tried  to 
give  effect  to  it.  Christ  is  showing  them  the 
true  way.  The  effect  of  the  philanthropy  of 
Christian  missions  has  been  profound  and  far- 
reaching  in  China,  and  it  is  now  being  realized 
that  this  is  no  mere  advertisi'ng  agency  of  the 
missionary  enterprise,  but  an  essential  "  fruit 
of  the  Gospel."  Social  service  is  appearing 
within  the   ranks  of  the  Chinese  Christians, 


206    Regeneration  of  New  China 

who  are  to-day  banding  themselves  together 
to  uplift  the  social  order  of  their  land. 
Gambling.  It  has  been  observed  that  gambling  in 
all  its  forms  is  a  vice  to  which  the  Chinese 
are  peculiarly  addicted,  and  that  its  hold 
upon  the  masses  is  greater  than  that  of  any 
other  social  evil.  The  campaign  against  it 
is  thoroughly  under  way,  and  although,  like 
other  movements,  it  will  have  its  relapses,  the 
public  conscience  has  been  awakened.  The 
Chinese  paper,  The  Republican  Advocate,  thus 
commented  upon  the  Gambling  Reform  Move- 
ment : — "  Foreign  critics  and  observers  of  the 
Chinese  say  that  gambling  is  second  nature 
with  the  people  of  this  country,  and  cannot  be 
eradicated.  .  .  .  There  are  people  who  said 
that  opium  smoking  could  not  be  abolished; 
who  says  so  now  ?  .  .  .  Foreign-educated 
Chinese  at  least  should  show  by  example  that 
they  can  be  freed  from  the  mania.  If  they 
get  into  the  old  rut,  and  do  not  show  a  better 
example  to  their  people  after  their  return 
from  abroad,  what  difference  is  there  between 
the  returned  student  and  the  conservative 
scholar,  except  the  foreign  clothes,  and  the* 
long  robe  and  girdle  ?  "  Here  the  obvious 
comparison  is  between  the  Christian  code  and 
the  Confucian  in  practice. 

No  body  of  workers  in  China  so  accurately 


Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      207 

focusses  the  ideals  of  educated  Chinese  Chris-  The  Move- 
tianity  as  does  the  Chinese  Y.M.C.A.  In  wards  Social 
January  1914,  at  the  national  headquarters  of  Servlce- 
this  organization,  a  conference  on  "  The  Social 
Application  of  Christianity ' '  was  held.  The  fol- 
lowing subjects  figured  in  its  programme : — 
"  The  Opportunity  for  Social  Service  in  China," 
"  The  Status  of  Christian  Philanthropy," 
"  The  Social  Message  of  Christianity,"  "  The 
Place  of  Woman  in  Social  Service,"  "  The 
Health  Department  Survey  of  Shanghai," 
"  Social  Service  in  an  interior  City,"  "  Lessons 
from  the  Social  Experiences  of  the  Y.M.C.A.," 
and  so  on.  The  following  extracts  are  from 
the  report  of  the  Committee  to  the  Conference 
under  the  heading  "  The  Relation  of  the 
Church  in  China  to  Social  Service  " — 


*  It  would  seem  obvious  that  since  modern 
social  service  is  so  largely  Christian  in  its 
origin  and  purpose,  the  relation  should  be 
most  close.  This  is  now  fully  recognized 
in  the  West,  where  the  Churches  are  bringing 
a  belated  enthusiasm  to  the  reinforcement 
of  the  social  movement.  The  opportunity 
of  leadership,  there  so  nearly  lost  by  the 
Church,  is  now  before  Christianity  in  China. 

'  The  Church  should  be  the  guide,  coun- 
sellor and  friend  of  all  efforts  for    social 


208     Regeneration  of  New  China 

progress.  This  it  cannot  effectively  be 
until  it  has  come  to  have  an  intelligent 
sympathy  with,  and  a  clearly  defined 
attitude  toward,  the  social  problems  of 
our  time. 

6  The  Church  should  furnish  inspiration  for 
social  service.  In  adopting  the  social  point 
of  view,  the  Church  does  not  in  the  least 
abrogate  its  spiritual  function.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  broadens  its  scope. 

*  It  should  assist  in  the  formation  of  a  new 
social  conscience,  and  in  the  beginning  of 
new  lines  of  effort.  What  influence  it  may 
have  over  the  great  mass  of  Chinese  charity 
remains  to  be  seen,  but  it  is  destined  to  play 
no  small  part. 

6  It  should  furnish  an  object  lesson  to 
Chinese  charity.  This  the  Church  in 
China  is  already  doing  abundantly — witness 
schools,  famine  relief,  translation  agencies, 
lecture  bureaux,  industrial,  normal,  technical 
and  medical  education.  This  should  even- 
tually include  examples  of  most  forms  of 
the  social  institutions  of  the  West. 

'The  Church  should  develop  leaders  for 

all  lines  of   social   effort   in   China.     The 

.    Christian    schools    are    turning    out    such 

men  year  by  year.     It  should  be  a  definite 

part  of  their  task  to  see  that  every  graduate, 


Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      209 

no  matter  what  calling  he  may  enter,  is 
intelligent  concerning  the  social  problems 
of  the  day,  and  enrols  himself  as  a  servant 
of  the  common  good  in  some  definite  cause. 
Here  is  to  be  found  the  meeting-point 
between  Christian  service  and  patriotism. 

6  Social  service  should  utilize  the  rank  and 
file  of  the  membership  of  the  Church,  and 
would  thus  not  only  develop  character,  but 
emphasize  the  vital  relation  between  the 
Church  and  the  Community.' 

The  Conference  referred  to  is  not  the  be- 
ginning of  this  enterprise ;  it  is  the  result  of 
work  already  attempted.  Twenty-five  mem- 
bers of  the  Association  have  been  engaged  upon 
a  canvass  of  the  Chinese  shops  and  traders  in 
Shanghai,  in  an  endeavour  to  find  out  the 
number  of  idle  or  unemployed  youths,  so  that 
they  may  get  these  into  an  institution  for  the 
education  of  young  Chinese  which  the  members 
of  the  Y.M.C.A.  have  recently  built  and  opened. 
Six  hundred  such  boys  are  to  be  accommodated, 
and  the  work  then  extended  to  other  centres. 
It  is  the  beginning  of  a  great  work  which 
"  may  yield  results  of  real  value  apart  from 
the  object  immediately  in  view."1  From 
this   to  the   problems  of    labour,  hours   and 

1  North  China  Herald.     Feb.  7 ,  1914. 


2io    Regeneration  of  New  China 


The  Use  of 
Sunday. 


conditions,    wages    and    safety,  the    step    is 
obvious. 

Already  the  influence  of  Christianity  is 
marked  in  the  public  life  of  China  by  the 
observance  of  Sunday  as  an  official  holiday. 
Not  that  this  in  itself  tends  to  the  furtherance 
of  religion  ;  indeed,  there  is  a  sense  in  which 
the  closing  of  public  offices,  government 
schools  and  so  forth,  has  made  the  spiritual 
task  of  the  Church  the  more  difficult.  Sunday, 
which  was  a  day  of  work,  is  fast  becoming, 
for  the  educated  and  leisured  Chinese,  the  day 
of  pleasure.  Yet  the  coming  of  the  Christian 
Sunday  brought  to  the  Chinese  a  sense  of  what 
they  were  lacking  in  the  absence  of  a  recog- 
nized day  of  rest,  and,  howsoever  it  be  observed, 
Sunday  is  proving  itself  one  of  the  gifts  of 
Christianity  to  the  Chinese  nation.  It  is  for 
the  Christian  Church  to  take  all  possible 
advantage  of  the  Sabbath  freedom  its  own 
example  and  influence  have  brought  about. 

The  relation  of  the  Christian  Church  to 
political  advance  in  China  has  been  of  the 
political  greatest  moment  in  the  history  of  recent  years. 
No  single  impulse  towards  reform  in  Govern- 
ment and  administration  was  so  great  as 
that  originating  in  Christianity  and  working 
through  its  Church  life  and  educational 
activities.     This  relationship  held  no  menace 


THE 

CHURCH 

AND 


Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      2 1 1 

so  long  as  the  progressive  spirit  was  animated 
by  national  ideals  and  followed  lines  of 
righteous  activity.  When,  however,  after  the 
Revolution  of  1911,  politics  took  on  a  party 
form,  the  danger  to  which  the  Christian 
Church  was  subjected  of  becoming  the  tool 
or  agent  of  one  party  in  the  State  was  at 
once  revealed.  The  fact  that  many  of 
the  chief  leaders  of  revolution  had  been  Christian 
Christian  students,  and  that  Dr  Sun  Yat-sen  Danger  of 
was  a  confessed  Christian,  gave  to  the  fnaflruence. 
Revolution  an  identification  with  Chris- 
tianity which  was  over-rated  and  a  little 
fictitious,  and  the  inclusion  of  Christian  men 
in  the  first  Cabinets,  both  that  of  the  Pro- 
visional Republic  and  that  of  Yuan  Shih-k'ai, 
brought  the  Church  into  undue  prominence  in 
this  connection.  The  division  of  the  Radical 
party  (the  Kuo  Ming  Tang),  which  had  a 
majority  in  the  Republican  Parliament,  into 
advanced  revolutionaries  and  moderate  re- 
publicans brought  about  its  dissolution  at 
the  hands  of  the  President,  who  accused  its 
leaders  of  fomenting  rebellion.  Certain  of 
these  leaders  were  Christian  men.  The  Church 
suffered  somewhat  in  consequence,  not  justly, 
but  rather  in  reaction  from  the  previous 
over-estimate  of  its  political  influence.  From 
the  party  politics  of  the  day  in   China  the 

H 


212     Regeneration  of  New  China 

Church,  as  such,  has  wisely  held  aloof.  Nothing 
would  be  so  destructive  of  the  policy  of  tolera- 
tion to  which  the  Chinese  Government  still 
stands  fully  committed  as  a  suspicion  of  general 
complicity  with  rebels  on  the  part  of  organised 
Christianity. 

On  the  other  hand  it  is  easy  to  see  how, 
under  certain  conditions,  Christian  Chinese 
might  be  driven  with  one  consent  into  opposi- 
tion to  the  policy  of  Government.  Had  the 
President  given  way  to  the  suggestion  that 
Confucian  worship  should  be  made  obligatory 
upon  every  official  and  all  teachers,  then  the 
thousands  of  educated  Christians  who  are  con- 
nected with,  or  looking  to,  Government  Service 
would  at  once  have  become  the  victims  of 
intolerance.  Religious  toleration  is  the  one 
assurance  in  China  of  non-interference  in 
political  matters  by  the  Christian  Church. 
Beyond  this,  all  the  ideals  of  Christianity 
will  make  in  China,  as  elsewhere,  for  purity 
of  public  life  and  honesty  of  administration. 
Need  of  Honesty  of  administration  !     It  has  been 

5** enera-  pointed  out  that  new  China,  in  spite  of  many 
Official  Life,  protestations  and  loud-voiced  sentiments  of 
virtue,  seems  in  many  respects  as  far  as  ever 
from  regeneration,  especially  in  its  official 
life.  From  top  to  bottom,  from  the  highest 
official  to  the  smallest  house-coolie,  the  bad 


Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      213 

old  system  of  peculation  ("  squeeze  ")  runs 
its  vicious  and  destructive  course.  Public 
officials  and  private  servants  are  underpaid 
on  the  assumption  that  they  will  find  other 
means  of  meeting  the  demands  of  life  and 
making  their  labour  worth  while.  Christianity 
cannot  fail  to  come  into  conflict  with  the 
system,  and  cannot  rest  until  the  moral  forces 
it  sets  in  motion  under  the  impulse  of  its 
spiritual  teaching  reform  the  methods  of  that 
system  throughout.  It  must  convert  both  the 
individual  and  the  system. 

The  task  is  not  hopeless.  Under  Con-  strength 
fucianism  there  is  a  knowledge  of  the  cardinal  ness^ofXon- 
virtues  of  honesty  and  sincerity  which  lacks  fucianism. 
chiefly  the  dynamic  that  Christianity,  and 
only  Christianity,  gives.  The  teaching  of 
righteousness  contained  in  the  Confucian 
system  is  one  on  which  the  Christian  can 
surely  build.  It  is  essentially,  though  incom- 
pletely, at  one  with  the  great  commandments 
of  the  Christian  Bible.  "  The  fundamental 
idea  of  righteousness  is  thus  the  same,  whether 
it  be  Chinese  or  of  any  other  nationality,  and 
this  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  whenever  it 
is  allowed  utterance  its  declaration  is  identical. 
.  .  .  What  they  really  differ  on  is  not  the  idea 
of  righteousness,  but  the  interpretation  of  the 
law   of    righteousness,    and    the    method   of 


214    Regeneration  of  New  China 

attaining  it." 1  «  <  The  Doctrine  of  the  Mean  ' 
places  an  admirable  moral  standard  before 
the  man  who  would  lead  a  pure  moral  life.  .  .  . 
We  find  (in  the  Analects2)  excellent  moral 
teaching  ...  we  have  the  five  virtues  fre- 
quently mentioned,  namely,  kindness,  justice, 
reverence,  wisdom  and  good  faith." 3  The 
weakness  of  the  whole  position  has  been 
manifest  from  the  days  of  Confucius  himself, 
in  his  own  acknowledgment  of  personal 
failure  to  attain  to  the  morality  he  taught. 
He  lamented  that  he  had  never  met  the  per- 
fectly virtuous  man,  and  at  the  end  of  his  career 
bemoaned  the  failure  of  his  life-teaching. 
The  acknowledgment  of  sin  and  the  hope  of 
redemption  which  come  from  contact  with 
Christ  and  His  Gospel  are  entirely  wanting 
in  Confucianism,  and  without  them  it  must 
for  ever  fail  to  uplift  those  whom  it  instructs. 
The  history  of  Confucianism  is  one  of  the 
outstanding  proofs  of  the  radical  failure  of 
even  the  finest  moral  system  to  save  men 
unless  it  comes  armed  with  the  power  of 
salvation.  That  moral  teaching  fails  without 
a  Saviour  is  the  great  lesson  of  Confucianism 

1  Lee   Tong  Hwe,   quoted   from    World  Chinese  Students' 
Journal. 

2  Confucian  Classics. 

3  Cf,  Soothill,  The  Three  Religions  of  China,  chap.  ix. 


Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      215 

for  the  Christian  enquirer,  and  it  is  the  supreme 
message  of  the  Christian  missionary  to  the 
leaders  as  well  as  to  the  rank  and  file  of 
China  to-day. 

The  task  of  giving  reality  to  the  professed 
virtues  of  Chinese  morality  is  made  harder  by 
the  moral  perversion  which  exists  so  generally 
in  China,  and  which  alienates  doctrine  from 
practice,  and  speech  from  act,  to  the  detriment 
of  the  highest  character ;  yet  the  fact  that 
the  cardinal  virtues  of  Chinese  teaching  and 
Christian  ideal  are  in  general  accord  gives 
to  the  Christian  Church  a  great  position  of 
vantage.  When  the  Vice-President,  Li  Yuan- 
hung,  recently  asked  for  Christian  men  for 
positions  of  trust  as  being  the  more  reliable, 
he  was  presaging  the  prestige  which  the  Church 
will  yet  win  for  China  in  the  sphere  of  public 
life.  Give  a  Christian  motive  to  the  formal 
system  of  Confucianism  and  the  assurance 
of  public  morality  is  at  hand.  Apart  from 
this  it  seems  as  if  purity  of  public  life  is 
hopelessly  impossible  in  China.  To  clothe  the 
bare  bones  of  high  Confucian  precept  with 
the  body  of  Christian  truth,  and  to  energize 
the  whole  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  the  in- 
carnate Christ,  is  the  consummate  task  of 
the  Christian  Evangel  in  China. 

The  Christian  knows  the  power  of  Christ's 


216    Regeneration  of  New  China 

China's  Last  Gospel  to  transform  all  that  it  touches,  and 
ope'  he  is  assured  that  only  Christ  is  sufficient  to 

solve  the  root  problems  of  China's  public  life. 
At  the  close  of  her  millenniums  of  history, 
in  the  face  of  her  modern  problems  and  her 
uttermost  need,  the  position  of  China  is 
an  unconscious  confession  of  human  failure. 
Systems  of  religion,  codes  of  morals,  and 
leaders  of  men  alike  are  broken  and  dis- 
credited. "  What  shall  she  do  to  be  saved  ?  " 
Is  there  any  other  answer  possible  to-day  than 
the  old  one — "  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ"?  The  Christian  Evangel  is  China's 
last  hope. 


Bibliographical  Note 

Collateral  reading  in  connection  with  this  chapter 
lies  chiefly  in  recent  magazine  articles.  The  volume 
on  "  Co-operation  and  Unity "  (vol.  viii.)  in  the  Edin- 
burgh Conference  Report,  and  the  findings  of  the  China 
Conferences  recorded  in  The  Continuation  Committee 
Conferences  in  Asia  will  be  found  useful. 

Three  very  important  articles  by  Chinese  Christian 
leaders  are  those  entitled  "The  Chinese  Church  in 
Kelation  to  its  immediate  Task"  (Internat.  Review  of 
Missions,  July  1912),  !  A  Chinese  view  of  the  Confer- 
ences '  (ibid.  July  1913),  both  by  the  Kev.  Cheng  Ching- 
yi;  and  "A  Chinese  Viewpoint  on  the  Evangelisation 


Church  and  Problems  of  Nation      217 

of  China"  (The  East  and  the  West,  July  1910),  by 
Chengting  Wang. 

"  China  and  the  Missions  of  To-morrow "  (The  East 
and  the  West,  January  1914)  is  an  article  dealing 
with  some  aspects  of  co-operation;  written  by  the 
Bishop  in  North  China  (the  Kt.  Eev.  Frank  Norris). 

Further  reference  may  be  made  to  Miss  Burton's 
book,  The  Education  of  Women  in  China :  The  Christian 
Education  oj  Women  in  the  East  contains  some  relevant 
addresses. 

11  China  as  contemplated  from  Tokyo,"  by  the  Kev. 
W.  H.  Elwin,  B.A.  (Church  Missionary  Review,  March 
1914),  gives  a  useful  account  of  work  among  Chinese 
students  there. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH  IN  CHINA  AND 
ITS  CLAIM  UPON  THE  WEST 

In  studying  the  task  of  Christian  evangeliza- 
tion in  China  we  have  given  a  great  deal 
of  consideration  to  the  problems  of  the 
magni-  Church  in  her .  relationship  with*  the  inherent 
the  task,  characteristics  of  the  Chinese  people,  and  with 
the  phases  of  development  through  which 
the  nation  must  pass  in  its  progress  towards 
those  higher  standards  of  civilization,  intel- 
lectual, industrial,  and  political,  that  are 
now  in  its  view.  We  have  been  attempting 
to  survey  the  task  from  within,  and  to  put 
ourselves  as  far  as  may  be  into  touch  with 
the  difficulties  and  opportunities  with  which 
the  intelligent,  devoted  Chinese  disciple  of 
Christ  is  confronted.  Let  us  proceed  to  step 
outside  the  range  of  these  inner  problems  and 
consider,  from  without,  the  great  task  before 
Christianity  in  China.  By  the  act  of  with- 
drawal we  shall  gain  the  mental  perspective 
in  which  we  may  realize  the  stupendous  nature 
and   magnitude  of   the  Christian   missionary 

218 


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55 


Claim  upon  the  West  219 

enterprise  in  the  midst  of  the  largest  nation 
the  world  has  ever  known. 

We  must  also  face  the  personal  claims  upon 
our  Christian  discipleship  which  the  situation 
engenders.  It  is  highly  necessary  that  this 
should  be  done,  and  done  in  the  spirit  of 
obedient  service  that  asks,  "  Lord,  what  wilt 
Thou  have  me  to  do  ?  '  Otherwise,  being  too 
immersed  in  the  complexity  of  the  task  before 
the  Church  of  Christ  in  China,  we  may  over- 
look both  its  magnitude  and  its  personal  bear- 
ings, and  consider  it  more  a  work  for  students 
and  professors  than  for  Christian  evangelists,  a 
subject  for  the  class-room  rather  than  an  enter- 
prise for  the  Church  militant.  We  need  to  have 
driven  into  our  own  minds  the  conviction 
that  apart  from  simple  Christian  obedience 
on  the  part  of  the  individual  members  of 
Christ's  Church  there  can  be  no  Christian 
conquest  in  China,  and  that  no  amount  of 
understanding  or  appreciation  of  the  situa- 
tion and  its  problems  can  help  forward  the 
Kingdom  of  God  where  personal  service  is 
lacking. 

The  Christian  Church  has  always  gloried 
in  tasks  apparently  beyond  her  powers.  To 
the  human  mind  there  has  never  been  any 
parity  between  the  forces  which  the  Gospel 
has   brought  to  bear  upon   the  condition  of 

H* 


2  2o    Regeneration  of  New  China 

life  in  every  land  it  has  entered,  and  those 
which  have  been  arrayed  against  it.  Never, 
even  in  the  days  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
was  this  more  apparent  than  when  Morrison 
essayed  to  win,  to  all  appearances  single- 
handed,  the  unknown  and  seemingly  impreg- 
nable Empire  of  China  for  his  Master.  With 
"  I  cannot,  but  God  can,"  on  his  lips  as 
his  one  answer  to  the  laughter  and  scorn  of 
men,  he  took  up  the  task,  in  the  full  know- 
Popuiation  ledge  of  its  human  impossibility.  Later,  he 
^ithpare  and  his  colleague,  Milne,  concluded  that  if 
Community.  *n  a  nundred  years  a  thousand  Chinese  were 
converted  to  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  it 
would  be  all  that  might  be  expected.1  Yet 
they  pressed  forward.  When  the  tale  of  a 
hundred  years  was  told,  more  than  150,000 
baptized  Christians  were  enrolled  with  the 
Reformed  Missions  in  China,  and  the  story 
of  that  single  century  became  one  of  the 
marvels  of  history.  So  true  is  it  that  one 
man  with  God  is  an  army.  As  Christians  we 
have  no  need  to  view  the  present  position  in 
China  with  any  feelings  of  dismay.  Faith 
still  "laughs  at  impossibilities."  Neverthe- 
less we  must  face  the  facts.  To-day  it  may 
be  that  the  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic 
Christian   communities   number  two  millions 

1  Milne,  Ten  Years'  Retrospect. 


Claim  upon  the  West  221 

or  even  more,  and  the  fact  is  wonderful 
indeed;  but  the  Chinese  people  are  about 
four  hundred  millions  in  number,  and  that,  too, 
is  a  fact  the  Christian  Church  is  bound  to  have 
constantly  in  mind.  Against  the  work  done 
we  must  ever  set  the  work  to  be  done.  In 
a  hundred  and  seven  years  the  foreign 
missionary  staff  has  grown  from  one  to 
some  three  thousand  five  hundred,  but  in 
the  period  between  1741  and  now  the  Chinese 
people  are  said  to  have  increased  by  more  than 
two  hundred  millions.1  Despite  all  its  miracu- 
lous accomplishments,  the  task  before  the 
Christian  Church  in  China  is,  in  view  of  the 
population,  staggeringly  great. 

When  consideration  is  given,  also,  to  the  Extent  of 
problem  of  the  occupation  of  China  by  the  occupation. 
messengers  of  Christ,  the  enormous  disparity 
between  the  task  accomplished  and  that  yet 
to  be  done  is  still  further  strikingly  revealed. 
Recent  returns  show  that  all  over  China,  the 
Provinces  and  Dependencies,  there  are  but 
552  occupied  centres  of  missionary  work, 
that  is,  centres  from  which  work  over  a  district 
is  organized ; 2  but  there  are  in  China  proper 
certainly  1300  counties,  each  one  having  an 
important  city  as  its  centre,  and  in  numer- 

1  Cf.  China,  E.  H.  Parker,  chap.  ix. 

2  Survey  of  the  Missionary  Occupation  of  China,  Cochrane. 


222     Regeneration  of  New  China 

ous  instances  having  other  cities  within  its 
boundaries,  also  with  populous  villages  and 
crowded  townships  innumerable.  Yet  there 
are  but  5348  outstations  held  for  Christ  all 
over  China.  And  these  are  not  distributed 
evenly  over  the  whole  land ;  far  from  it. 
"  The  Provinces  of  Yunnan,  Kwangsi,  Kwei- 
chow  and  Kansuh — stated  in  the  order  of 
their  need — are  largely  unoccupied,  and  offer 
extensive  spheres  for  missions  wishing  to 
undertake  work  in  a  new  field  in  China. 
The  neglected  condition  of  these  vast  regions 
is  indeed  deplorable." x  The  population  of 
these  almost  untouched  and  outlying  pro- 
vinces amounts  to  forty  millions.  Beyond 
these  there  lie  the  great  fields  of  Mongolia, 
Turkestan  and  Tibet.  And  all  these,  except 
the  last-named,  stand  open  to  the  labours  of 
the  servants  of  Christ,  and  could  be  occupied 
at  once  if  the  members  of  the  Church  of 
Christ  were  alive  to  the  situation  and  respon- 
sive to  the  call  of  God. 

It  is  true  enough  that  the  diffusive  influence 
of  Christianity  has  spread  far  beyond  the  range 
of  mere  missionary  occupation ;  true  also 
that  the  printed  messengers  of  Christian 
truth  have  passed  into  every  township  and 
numberless  villages   of  the  land ;    but  with 

1  Findings  of  the  National  Conference,  Shanghai,  1913. 


Claim  upon  the  West  223 

the  mere  extension  of  influence  and  the 
spread  of  more  or  less  knowledge  no  true 
Christian  can  rest  content.  The  task  of  the 
Christian  Church  is  not  merely  to  spread  ideas 
or  to  awaken  interest ;  these  are  contributory 
and  incidental  to  its  whole  work  for  men.  That 
work  is  to  bring  home  the  fact  of  personal  re- 
demption. The  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ,  so  far 
as  he  is  true  to  his  Master,  is  "  straitened  until 
it  be  accomplished."  As  the  call  of  Christ  is 
to  something  infinitely  deeper  than  the  sym- 
pathetic understanding  of  problems,  so  the 
task  in  China  is  far  more  than  that  of  bringing 
the  Chinese  into  the  comity  of  nations,  or 
of  educating  them  to  be  the  peers  of  the 
civilized  peoples  of  the  world.  They  are  to 
be  made  one  in  the  great  brotherhood  which, 
out  of  a  changed  heart  and  with  personal 
conviction,  calls  Jesus  Lord. 

In  relating  this  task  to  present  conditions  nature 

•  •  OF"  THE 

and  needs  we  must  avoid  thinking  of  it  as  service 
one  which  applies  solely  to  the  emissaries  REQUIRED 
of  the  Western  Church.  It  applies  primarily 
there,  since  to  this  Church  has  been  given 
knowledge  and  position  and  power  for  the 
first  steps  of  the  enterprise,  and  to  us  the 
command  to  "  evangelize  the  nations  '  has 
first  come.  Moreover  those  first  steps  have 
by  no  means  all  been  taken.    The  work  to 


224     Regeneration  of  New  China 
Essentially    which  China  calls  must  be  considered  in  its 

Co-opera- 

tive.  corporate  aspect,  that  is,  in  view  of  all  the 

forces  available  for  service,  beginning  with 
ourselves  and  having  as  the  chief  regard 
the  most  effectual  application  of  all  these 
to  the  required  end.  The  greater  share  of  the 
burden  must  eventually  be  borne  by  the 
Chinese  themselves  ;  but  in  the  first  considera- 
tion of  the  work,  in  the  laying  down  of  general 
principles,  and  especially  in  the  incentive  to 
service  by  personal  example,  the  great  respon- 
sibility is  to-day  upon  those  who  are  the  heirs 
of  centuries  of  Christian  thought  and  experi- 
ence. Only  the  note  of  that  service  must  be 
brotherhood  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  not  over- 
lordship,  if  it  is  to  be  truly  worthy  and  finally 
successful.  "  Come  over  and  help  us,"  was 
the  cry  from  Macedonia,  not  "  Come  over 
and  do  it  for  us,"  and  that  is  the  cry  of  the 
Christian  Church  in  China  to-day.  The  foreign 
missionary  is  the  link  of  brotherhood  in  Christ 
between  China  and  the  West,  and  that  link 
sorely  needs  strengthening. 
Christian  For  what  service  then  does  China  to-day 

tion.ngehsa"  particularly  claim  the  foreign  missionary, 
and  what  are  the  enterprises  to  which  we 
are  called  to  offer  our  thought,  our  prayer,  our 
gifts,  or  perchance  our  lives  ?  Tt  was  never  truer 
of  any  time  than  of  the  present,  that  the  first 


Claim  upon  the  West  225 

need  of  China  is  the  need  of  Christian  evangelism 
tion.  This  is  the  fountain  of  all  the  good  works 
which  follow  in  the  train  of  the  missionary 
enterprise.  Evangelisationis  not  simply  preach- 
ing of  a  special  kind.  Few  misapprehensions 
have  wrought  more  harm  to  the  missionary 
cause  in  China  than  the  very  widespread  idea 
that  Christian  missions  are  a  magnified  form  of 
slum  work  and  that  missionary  evangelisation 
is  a  kind  of  outdoor  preaching  to  the  ignorant. 
We  must  remind  ourselves  and  others  that 
evangelistic  work  is  primarily  the  declaration 
of  good  news  to  all  classes  of  men.  For  the 
public  form  of  evangelisation  we  have  seen 
that  the  Chinese  have  a  special  aptitude,  as 
well  as  the  final  responsibility.  But  the  spirit 
of  evangelism  must  run  through  every  branch 
of  Christian  service  that  is  well  and  truly 
done,  whether  it  be  in  the  class-room,  in  the 
laboratory,  in  the  hospital  ward,  or  by  means 
of  the  pen.  The  gift  which  the  Chinese 
seek  from  the  example  of  the  Western  Church 
is  a  consuming  zeal  for  the  welfare,  body 
and  soul,  of  the  brother  "for  whom  Christ 
died."  The  constraint  laid  upon  the  foreign 
missionary  to  "  love  his  brother  also  "  is  no 
whit  diminished  because  in  our  day  the 
call  for  service  in  China  appears  to  be  for  the 
consecration  of  the  head  and  hand  as  much  as 


226    Regeneration  of  New  China 

of  the  heart.  For  the  Chinese  have  an  eerie 
faculty  of  "  finding  the  Westerner  out." 
They  have  read,  thought,  and  judged  motive 
through  act  and  not  through  speech  in  one 
another,  throughout  the  ages  of  their  history, 
and  the  unsophisticated  Anglo-Saxon  stands 
readily  revealed  to  their  trained  glance.  If 
the  zeal  for  the  good  of  men  for  Christ's 
sake  is  there,  they  know  it,  and  it  tells  its 
own  story  and  does  its  own  work  with  far 
greater  effect  than  in  the  West.  Evangelism, 
"  the  selfless  love  of  man  "  in  the  spirit  of 
Christ  Jesus,  is  that  with  which  the  foreign 
Christian  worker  is  commissioned  to  the 
Chinese  Church.  If  this  be  lacking,  a  fatal  omis- 
sion is  revealed  and  there  is  nothing  which 
can  take  its  place.  True  evangelistic  service 
is  the  very  life-spirit  of  Christian  missions 
and  the  assurance  of  their  final  success. 
Christian  Christian  Strategy  is  another  of  the  demands 

of  the  day  upon  the  workers  for  Christ  in 
China.  Little  enough  help  has  been  given 
in  this  way  to  the  Chinese  Church  as  a  whole 
in  the  years  gone  by,  either  by  example  or 
by  precept,  and  we  are  to-day  realizing  our 
sins  of  omission  as  we  reap  the  results  of 
them.  In  the  era  of  direct  propagation  of 
the  Gospel  by  the  foreigner,  dispersion  over  a 
wide  area  and  the  scattering  widespread  of  the 


Strategy. 


Claim  upon  the  West  227 

seed  of  truth  was  the  chief  consideration,  and 
few  men  and  women  gave  themselves  adequate 
time  for  needful  thought  upon  the  whole 
campaign.  The  pressure  of  immediate  need 
was  too  heavy.  Those  who  did  were  iso- 
lated, since  China  then  afforded  practically  no 
means  of  communication,  and  they  followed 
generally  the  lines  of  their  own  thought.  In 
certain  areas  of  service,  defined  by  conditions 
of  natural  feature  or  language,  where  there 
were  but  few  Societies  at  work  on  the  field, 
plans  were  forthcoming  and  strategic  under- 
standings arranged  which  have  been  of  the 
most  signal  benefit  to  the  Church.  In  the 
Amoy  and  Swatow  regions  of  South  China, 
in  West  China,  and  in  Manchuria,  this  has 
been  especially  the  case.  But  it  was  not 
until  the  Shanghai  Centenary  Conference  of 
1907  that  any  general  application  of  the 
principles  of  strategic  service  was  made,  and 
its  great  work  has  still  to  be  done.1 

Concentration  and  co-operation  in  the  work 
of  higher  education  is  one  such  line  of  strategic 
service  called  for  from  the  foreign  missionary. 
It  is  not  possible,  even  were  it  desirable, 
that  each  of  the  missions  should  undertake 
schemes  of  educational  work  regardless  of  the 

1  Cf.  Arthur  H.  Smith  :    The   Uplift  of  China  (new  and 
revised  edition,  1914),  ch.  vi. 


228    Regeneration  of  New  China 

needs  of  the  whole,  and  also  of  the  work 
which  the  Chinese  Government  is  bound  to 
do.  A  few  Union  Christian  Universities  in 
China,  five  or  six  at  most,  doing  first  class 
work  in  a  thorough  way,  would  be  strategically 
successful  far  beyond  the  efforts  of  a  score 
of  smaller,  less  efficient  institutions  attempting 
the  same  work  on  individualistic  lines.  "  It 
is  alarming  to  find  that  missions  through- 
out China  propose  to  have  a  larger  number 
of  Universities  than  the  Government." } 
Christian  University  work,  concentrated  and 
co  -  operative,  is  one  phase  of  outstanding 
strategic  service.  The  medical  missions  of 
China  have  given  an  attention  to  this  sphere 
of  their  work  which  no  other  branch  of  the 
enterprise  has  yet  adequately  developed. 

The  focussing  of  Christian  enterprise  upon 
conspicuous  avenues  of  influence  is  another 
such  line.  The  whole  field  of  classical 
literature  and  of  journalism  requires  the 
attention  of  qualified  men  for  this  very 
reason.  It  is  astonishing  that  so  much  has 
been  accomplished  when*  it  is  remembered 
that  the  number  of  men  and  women  given 
up  to  the  work  of  Christian  literature,  in  a 
land  where  literature  counts  more  than  any- 
where   else    in    the    world,  may    almost   be 

1  Survey  of  Missionary  Occupation  ofChi?ia,  Cochrane,  1913. 


Claim  upon  the  West  229 

counted  on  the  fingers,  and  many  of  these 
were  without  previous  special  equipment. 
How  is  it  possible  in  such  a  case  to  afford 
the  needed  training  to  the  Chinese  worker, 
to  whom  in  later  years  the  task  should  and 
must  be  committed  ?  Here  again  is  a  matter 
of  strategic  service  which  must  receive  atten- 
tion from  the  Churches  at  home  as  a  sphere 
of  co-operative  effort.  Service  by  all,  and  for 
the  good  of  all,  is  the  call  of  the  day  in  China. 
How  the  focussing  of  service  upon  centres 
of  special  influence  may  be  marvellously 
effective  is  seen  in  the  results  accomplished 
by  co-operative  work  in  conjunction  with 
the  Chinese  Y.M.C.A.  amongst  the  Chinese 
students  in  Tokyo.  The  attention  of  the 
China  Missions  was  drawn  to  the  needs  of  this 
work  in  1907,  and  the  China  Centenary  Mis- 
sionary Conference  decided  to  co-operate  with 
the  Y.M.C.A.  for  work  amongst  the  18,000 
Chinese  students,  then  in  Japan,  by  forming  a 
Union  Christian  Church  in  the  capital  city,  one 
of  the  largest  university  centres  in  the  world. 
The  task  of  supervising  this  work  on  behalf  of 
the  Conference  was  delegated  to  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Mission  of  North  America,  and 
they  sent  their  leading  Chinese  Pastor,  the 
Rev.  Mark  Liu,  from  Tientsin  to  Tokyo,  for  this 
purpose.    The  C.M.S.  conjointly  appointed  an 


230    Regeneration  of  New  China 

English  missionary  to  the  same  service,  while 
the  W.M.M.S.  and  the  C.I.M.  also  were  repre- 
sented. Under  these  conditions  a  great  work 
was  done  for  Christianity  amongst  men  who 
on  their  return  to  various  provinces  in  China, 
some  to  positions  of  authority,  gave  proof 
of  the  good  derived  from  the  Christian  teach- 
ing they  had  received  in  Tokyo.  "  Recently 
some  Chinese  Christians  of  Yunnan  approached 
their  Tutuh 1  Tsai,  with  reference  to  the  scheme 
of  starting  a  Y.M.C.A.  in  their  province,  and 
the  latter  at  once  promised  his  assistance 
because,  during  his  student  days  in  Japan,  he 
had  come  under  the  influence  of  the  Chinese 
Y.M.C.A.  at  Tokyo."2  Between  1907  and  1913, 
43  men  were  baptized  in  connection  with  the 
work  of  the  Students'  Union  Church  in  Tokyo, 
and  the  Chinese  membership  of  the  Tokyo 
Y.M.C.A.  was  reported  last  year  as  460  out  of 
a  total  of  about  3500  Chinese  students  in  the 
city.  No  finer  single  piece  of  strategic  service 
has  been  rendered  to  the  cause  of  Christianity 
in  China  than  this  mission  work  in  Tokyo. 

The  whole  Chinese  student  class,  having 
within  it  those  who  are  bound  to  become 
the  leaders  of  the  next  generation  in  China, 
provides  a  field  for  strategic  work  of  the  most 

1  The  tutuh  is  the  chief  civil  officer  of  a  provincial  centre. 

2  The  East  in  the  West,  January,  1914.     M.T.Z.  Tyau. 


Claim  upon  the  West  231 

influential  kind.  The  success  which  attended 
the  services  held  by  Dr  Mott  and  Mr  Eddy 
in  their  recent  tour  in  China,  when  80,000 
students  attended  Christian  meetings  and 
7000  pledged  themselves  to  study  the  life 
of  Christ  as  recorded  in  the  Gospels,  shows 
the  opportunity  which  lies  before  wisely 
directed  effort  on  a  wide  scale.1  But  indi- 
vidual efforts  can  never  cover  the  whole 
ground,  and  the  work  needs  to  be  planned  and 
attempted  as  a  part  of  the  campaign  on 
behalf  of  the  Christian  Gospel  by  speci- 
ally equipped  and  thoroughly  representative 
Chinese  and  Western  speakers.  Here,  also, 
in  the  home  lands,  the  many  Chinese  students 
who  are  attending  schools  and  universities 
provide  those  who  care  to  take  the  trouble 
to  cultivate  friendly  relationships,  on  the 
basis  of  mutual  goodwill  and  acknowledged 
equality,  with  an  avenue  of  strategic  service 
for  Christ  which  may  prove  very  far-reaching.2 

Another   of   the   most   pressing   claims    of  a  Plan  of 
the  situation  in  China  to-day  is  for  a  convpre-    amPai&n- 
hensive  plan  of  campaign.    This  involves  far 
more  than  conference  and  co-operation ;    it 
calls  for  a  readiness  to  offer  or  forego  on  the 
part  of  missions  and  individuals,  and  on  the 

1  For  a  full  account,  see  Eddy,  The  New  Era  in  Asia. 

2  Particular   attention    is    directed    to  the   Note   in   the 
Appendix. 


232     Regeneration  of  New  China 

part  of  the  Chinese  also,  for  the  good  of  the 
whole.  From  the  time  of  the  1907  Centenary 
Conference  in  Shanghai,  through  Edinburgh 
in  1910,  on  to  the  recent  National  China 
Conference  of  1913,  the  statement  of  need  has 
been  built  up,  and  is  now  available,  cogently 
and  comprehensively  stated,  for  all  who 
care  to  study.  Beyond  this  lies  the  far  more 
difficult  task,  and  the  one  which  is  supremely 
the  duty  of  to-day,  the  acknowledgment 
by  the  representatives  of  the  Christian  Church 
at  work  in  China  of  their  respective  shares 
in  the  task  yet  to  be  accomplished.  Missions 
and  the  Chinese  Churches  must  come  to- 
gether not  simply  to  confer  about  the  work 
to  be  done,  but  in  the  doing  of  it.  There 
can  be  no  satisfactory  occupation  of  strategic 
centres,  no  thoroughly  effective  service  in 
relation  to  the  whole  task,  until  the  workers 
have  drawn  closer  together  for  a  common 
understanding  of  their  individual  and  collec- 
tive responsibility  for  the  work  waiting  to 
be  done.  This  is  not  merely  a  matter  for 
missionary  representatives  and  statesmen  ;  it 
is  a  problem  to  be  faced  by  every  supporter 
of  missionary  enterprise  in  the  homeland  who 
is  connected  with  a  Church  that  has  a  sphere 
of  service  in  the  land  of  China.  Relationships 
must  be  defined  and  responsibility  allocated. 


Claim  upon  the  West  233 

We  are  now  in  a  position  to  form  some 
estimate  of  the  task  that  lies  ahead  of  the 
Christian  forces  in  China,  and  it  cannot  have 
failed  to  occur  to  us  in  the  course  of  our 
study  that  the  Chinese  Church  is  woefully 
inadequate  in  equipment  for  that  which  it  is 
now  attempting  and  must  accomplish  for  the 
Kingdom.  First  of  all  there  is  the  care 
of  its  own  people  demanding  attention,  the 
training  in  spiritual  life  and  the  instruction 
in  Christian  truth  and  doctrine  so  essential 
to  the  stability  and  progress  of  Church  life 
and  individual  Christian  development.  Side 
by  side  with  this  there  is  the  fight  that 
must  be  waged  with  pagan  elements  within 
the  Christian  community,  the  zeal  for  the 
purity  of  Church  life  and  the  insistence 
upon  the  preservation  of  New  Testament 
standards  of  spiritual  life  and  daily  conduct, 
that  must  be  nurtured.  It  has  to  do  this 
in  so  comprehensive  a  measure  as  to  meet 
the  needs  of  the  unlettered  as  well  as  the 
cultured,  and  by  such  methods  as  shall 
make  it  fully  apparent  that  Christianity  is 
not  in  any  sense  a  foreign  but  a  universal 
Gospel.  Then  there  is  laid  upon  the  Chinese 
Church  that  further  momentous  and  in- 
spiring task  of  influencing  by  its  evangel  the 
whole  life  of  the  people,  bringing  them  into 


234     Regeneration  of  New  China 

direct  touch  with  the  message  of  redemp- 
tion, and  teaching  thereby  that  fact  of 
relationship  and  duty  between  man  and 
God  of  which  China  stands  in  such  supreme 
need.  Beyond  this,  by  a  constant  testimony 
to  ideals  derived  from  Bible  teaching  and 
Christian  experience,  it  has  to  lift  the  whole 
range  of  national  life,  social  and  political, 
and  by  example  show  a  new  method  of 
human  service.  Fellowship  in  service  for 
the  ultimate  redemption  of  the  Chinese  race 
is  the  call  of  God,  through  the  opportunities 
of  the  moment,  to  Western  Christendom — that 
is,  to  the  Christian  Churches  of  our  land,  and, 
in  the  end,  to  us  who  compose  them.  How 
are  we  facing  the  call  ? 

In  recent  years  very  much  has  been  accom- 
plished by  the  drawing  together  of  mission- 
aries on  the  field  and  of  leaders  of  the 
missionary  enterprise  at  home.  The  steady 
growth  of  some  really  great  co-operative 
enterprises1  in  Missionary  educational  work 
in  China,  such  as  the  West  China  Union 
University,  the  Union  Medical  College,  the 
Shantung  Union  University,  the  Nanking 
Union  University,  and  others,  are  most 
hopeful    signs    of    progress    in    co-operative 

1  Of.  Arthur  H.  Smith,  The  Uplift  of  China,  new  and  revised 
ed. ,  11)14,  chap.  vi. 


A    CHINESE    EVANGELIST 


r      *        '     »        9 


Claim  upon  the  West  235 

work.  On  the  other  hand  one  of  the 
very  uninspiring  and  significant  phases  of 
missionary  policy  in  our  Church  life  in 
Britain  to  -  day  is  that  revealed  in  the 
throwing  over  of  the  responsibility  for  facing 
and  solving  our  more  intimate  and  searching 
ecclesiastical  difficulties  to  the  infant  Churches 
in  mission  lands.  Questions  of  Christian 
brotherhood,  race  problems  and  Church  ideals 
are  to  be  "  left  for  the  Mission  field  to 
settle."  It  cannot  be,  unless  we  desire  such  a 
settlement  as  will  alienate  the  growing  Chinese 
Church  from  the  Church  of  the  West,  and 
this  is  a  possible,  if  not  a  pressing,  danger. 
To  the  call  of  China  for  a  united  Christian 
Church  the  response  of  the  long  sundered 
members  of  the  Body  of  Christ  must  be  a 
determination  to  consider  again  and  again, 
in  the  light  of  the  new  conditions  and 
claims  of  the  mission  field,  the  problem  of 
mutual  relationship.  It  must  be  answered 
among  us  by  a  steady  growth  in  the  spirit 
of  unity.  The  Western  Churches  give  less  christian 
than  the  best,  less  than  Christ  would  have  Umty- 
them  give,  when  they  impart  to  the  Chinese 
Church  another  spirit  than  that  of  true 
Christian  unity.  The  situation  will  not 
be  met,  even  in  China,  by  the  shutting 
of  the  ears  of  the  Christian  leaders  in  the 
West  to  the  clear  call  of  the  Chinese  Christians. 


236    Regeneration  of  New  China 

"  They,  without  us,  shall  not  be  made  perfect." 
Suspicion  is  an  outstanding  characteristic  of 
the  unregenerate  Chinese  mind;  and  an 
insistence  on  denominational  division  is  bound 
to  give  it  such  scope  for  destructive  action  as 
must  retard  indefinitely  the  final  conquest  of 
the  Cross  in  China.  The  problems  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  are  one,  East  and  West,  and 
the  call  of  the  hour  in  China  for  common 
action  in  accordance  with  a  common  plan, 
and  for  a  united  Chinese  Christian  Church, 
is  a  call  to  Christian  Britain  to  set  its  divided 
house  in  order  for  united  service.  A  definite 
understanding  of  the  part  which  each  division 
of  the  Church  was  prepared  to  undertake  in  the 
whole  plan  of  Christian  conquest  in  China, 
while  it  would  not  solve  these  final  difficulties 
which  still  stand  in  the  way  of  our  destined 
unity,1  would  obviate  very  many  of  them,  and 
prove  of  inestimable  value  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  common  task.  We  are  bound  by 
our  Christian  profession  to  join  hands  with 
the  forces  of  the  Gospel  in  China,  to  reinforce 
the  heroic  band  of  workers,  Chinese  and  foreign,  * 
who  struggle  there  against  such  tremendous 
odds,  and  to  do  it  effectively  we  must  under- 
stand better  each  others'  plans  and  make  our 
preparations  to  "  march  forward  together." 

1  A    Unity  which    must   include    all    the    Churches    of 
Christendom,  ancient  as  well  as  reformed,  if  it  is  to  be  real. 


Claim  upon  the  West  237 

* 

Nowhere  in  the  world,  possibly,  is  it  more 
needful  to  approach  the  task  of  Christian 
service  in  a  spirit  of  real  humility  than  it  is 
in  China  at  this  time.  The  manner  in  which 
the  service  of  the  Western  Church  is  offered 
to  the  Chinese  has  considerable  bearing  upon 
its  effect.  The  gift  of  the  Gospel  must  not 
be  allowed  to  suffer  through  the  vain-glory 
or  self-assurance  of  the  human  giver.  In 
China  the  reputation  of  the  foreigner,  as  such, 
has  passed  through  several  phases.  He  was 
looked  upon  with  contempt,  and  in  general 
he  returned  the  glance  with  interest ;  then, 
as  his  command  of  material  resources  and 
his  scientific  attainments  were  understood,  he 
passed  to  a  position  of  acknowledged  superior- 
ity. That  phase  again  is  passing,  or  has  christian 
passed,  for  has  not  Japan  also  proved  herself  Humlllty- 
the  equal  of  the  West  on  these  very  same 
grounds  of  material  and  scientific  attain- 
ment ?  By  the  intellectual  and  discerning 
Chinese  to-day  the  foreigner  is  honoured, 
not  because  he  is  a  foreigner,  but  for 
what  he  proves  himself  to  be.  Missionary 
service  which  is  undertaken,  either  at  home 
or  in  China,  on  the  ground  of  the  superior 
attainments  and  gifts  of  the  West,  whether 
collectively  or  in  the  individual,  is  doomed  to 
failure.     "  By  love,  serve  "  is  an  outstand- 


238    Regeneration  of  New  China 

ing  Christian  commandment,  nowhere  more 
effective  than  in  the  realm  of  Christian 
missions.  Service  which  is  conscious  of  race 
pride  can  never  reveal  the  highest  Christian 
virtues,  or  glorify  the  Christian  Gospel.  "  Un- 
fortunately there  are  people  who  come  to  a 
foreign  country  with  an  inveterate  view  of  up- 
lifting, nay,  of  civilizing,  a  barbarous  people. 
They  therefore  come  to  us  with  the  arrogant 
and  patronising  air  of  a  superior  people. 
They  refuse  to  learn.  .  .  .  The  result 
of  this  unwillingness  to  learn  has  been  that 
the  missionaries  can  hardly  approach  the 
better  class,  the  educated  class  of  people."  1 
"  Blessed  are  the  meek,  for  they  shall  inherit 
the  earth  "  are  words  which  surely  had  the 
work  of  Christian  missions  in  view.  The 
element  of  racial  division  must  be  moved 
entirely  from  the  arena  of  Christian  work  in 
China,  and  within  the  Chinese  Church  ought 
never  to  be  allowed  to  appear.  Racial  dis- 
tinction can  never  be  put  wholly  away,  but 
it  need  never  count  where  there  is  the  true 
love  of  the  brethren  and  the  spirit  of  humble 
service.    The  call  of  the  Chinese  Church  to 

1  Mr  Suh  Hu  in  World's  Chinese  Students'  Journal,  Sept. 
1913.  The  statement  is  made  in  an  exaggerated  and  sweep- 
ing form,  as  will  be  apparent  from  such  facts  as  the  personal 
influence  of  certain  missionaries  with  Yuan  Shih-k'ai  and 
other  Chinese  leaders. 


Claim  upon  the  West  239 

Western  Christendom  is  for  brotherhood  in 
Christian  work  and  for  the  acknowledgment 
of  equal  union  in  Christ,  not  for  patronage  or 
pity,  and  least  of  all,  as  if  the  Church  were 
the  spoil  of  conquest,  for  possession. 

Identification  of  interest,  of  aim,  and  of 
service,  in  response  to  a  Gospel  message  which 
is  without  distinction  of  person,  position,  or 
place,  is  what  Christianity  in  China  fairly 
seeks  from  the  Christianity  of  the  West. 
The  Chinese  Christian  community  is,  more- 
over, one  with  which  it  is  not  only  a  duty, 
but  an  honour,  to  join  hands  in  the  great 
task  of  world  evangelization.  Its  members 
are  worthy  companions  of  the  very  noblest 
disciples  of  Jesus  in  the  Crusade  of  the  Cross. 
They  bring  into  that  vital  crusade  gifts  of  a  motives 
high  and  conspicuous  order,  and  they  offer  to  response 
the  service  of  our  Master  a  human  contribution 
which  is  scarcely  to  be  excelled  by  any  other 
of  the  great  nations  of  the  world.  We  have 
recounted  some  of  the  disabilities  from  which 
they  suffer  and  the  failures  which  mark  or 
threaten  them,  in  our  review  of  their  racial 
characteristics ;  we  have  striven  to  realize 
how  far  the  gifts  which  God  has  bestowed 
upon  us  are  held  in  trust  for  their  help,  that 
we  may  make  up  what  they  lack  in  respect 
of  these  things.     Our  task  is  to  supplement  as 


240    Regeneration  of  New  China 

well  as  to  originate.    Our  Christian  history  and 
the  wealth  of  Christian  experience  which  is 
ours  by  heritage,  and  which  we  should  reveal 
in  personal  life  and  service  as   disciples   of 
Christ,    are    offerings  which    we    are    to-day 
called  upon  to  contribute  to  the  advance  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God  in  China.    Let  us  realize 
that,    in   return,  we  gain   for   the  service  of 
that  Kingdom   at   home   outstanding   moral 
excellencies  which  may  prove  of  the  greatest 
value.     For  in  many   respects   wherein  our 
religious  life  is  confessedly  weak,  the  life  of 
the  Chinese  Christian  Church  is  likely  to  be 
strong,  and  it  requires  the  virtues  of  each  at 
their   best  to   realize   the  ideal  whole.    The 
perfect  man  in  Christ  Jesus  will  embody  the 
highest  life-expression  of  China  and  the  West. 
Power  of  initiative,   driving  force,  and  a 
restless  energy  which  spurs  men  forward  in 
the  race  of  life  are  characteristics  which  mark 
our    Anglo  -  Saxon    race,    and    which    have 
made    of   its   members   great   explorers,   ad- 
venturers,   colonists,    Empire    builders,    and, 
under  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  heroic  missionaries 
Contribution  of  the  Cross.     "  Go  ye  and  make  disciples  "  is 
Christian*0    a  message  which  fits  supremely  our  national 
Character,     character.     It    is   right   that   we   should   be 
pioneers  of  the  Cross  of  Christ  in  the  great 
lands  of  the  earth,  since  adventure  and  expan- 


Claim  upon  the  West  241 

sion  are  the  things  which  mark  us  among  men. 
Other  peoples,  other  characteristics  ;  amongst 
the  Chinese  there  is  in  supreme  measure  the 
patience  which  we  so  often  lack,  the  persistence 
of  character  which  refuses  to  be  denied,  and 
which  is  able  to  understand  and  to  respond 
to  the  exhortation  "  though  it  tarry,  wait  for 
it."  We  "  spoil  for  a  fight  "  in  the  excess 
of  our  adventurous  virtues ;  the  Chinese  "  seek 
peace  and  ensue  it."  In  spite  of  their  re- 
bellions and  their  passing  savageries  they  are 
a  peace-loving  and  a  peace-seeking  people.1 
Talents  of  organization  and  natural  gifts  of 
leadership,  too,  are  theirs,  waiting  to  be  revealed 
in  Christian  service,  together  with  an  intensely 
practical  view  of  the  course  of  the  world 
and  of  human  duty,  and  a  fine  instinct  for 
the  things  which  are  central  and  essential. 
Speaking  of  the  China  National  Conference 
(1913),  Dr  J.  Campbell  Gibson  said :  "  It  was 
a  daily  delight  to  note  the  ability,  the  earnest- 
ness of  conviction,  the  ample  knowledge  and 
alertness  of  mind  which  the  Chinese  delegates 
brought  to  our  debates.  We  know  now,  as 
never  before,  that  the  Chinese  Church  is 
richly  gifted  in  its  leaders."  Some  of  the 
greatest  triumphs  of  the  Kingdom  are  awaiting 
the  service  of  Christ's  missionary  workers  in 

1  Cf.  Dyer  Ball's  The  Chinese  at  Home,  ch.  xx 


242     Regeneration  of  New  China 

China.  A  glory  not  surpassed  by  any  that  has 
ever  yet  dawned  upon  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  lies  hidden  in  the  character  of  the 
Chinese  people  as  it  shall  be  revealed  when 
they  have  been  turned  to  our  Lord.  Without 
the  converting  force  of  Christ's  Gospel  the 
brightest  of  the  virtues  of  the  Chinese  race 
will  lie,  like  the  precious  metals  of  their  land, 
obscure  and  unrealized. 
Theinevit-  It  is  well  to  remember  and  to  repeat  the 
of  Refusing  fact  that  the  demand  of  China  upon  the 
the  Call.  Christian  Church  of  the  West  is  one  of  to-day. 
There  is  pressing  danger  lest,  in  our  slackness 
of  spirit  and  lack  of  obedient  faith,  we  may, 
ere  long,  find  ourselves  talking  of  the  call  of 
yesterday  in  China.  To  speak  of  such  a  call 
will  be  to  utter  a  condemnation.  The  demand 
is  present  and  pressing,  and  it  is  passing.  China 
does  not  know  the  trend  of  her  own  desires, 
she  has  not  formulated  her  deepest  needs, 
though  she  feels  them  only  too  keenly. 
Yesterday  Christianity  may  have  attracted 
her  thought  and  kindled  her  hope,  to-day  it 
may  be  Confucianism,  to-morrow,  perchance, 
an  attenuated  amalgam  of  religions,  and  later, 
a  sheer  infidelity. 

Meanwhile,  and  for  how  long  God  only 
knows,  the  doors  are  open  wide  and  hearts 
are  awaiting  the  preaching  of  Christ's  Gospel. 


,  3  J3    • 


<     > 

c       c         < 


.. '         »    .<      .,  * '  '       .  ■        .  •  » 


THE    REV.    CHENG    CHING-YI 

Seep,  151 


Claim  upon  the  West  243 

Failure  now  through  lack  of  response  must 
be  a  disgrace  to  Christendom  and  a  disaster 
to  God's  Kingdom.  Materialism  is  ever 
crouching  at  the  gate  of  China's  heart.  The 
tendency  to  interpret  life  in  terms  of 
bodily  necessity,  food  and  drink  and  clothing 
and  wherewithal,  is  persistent,  and  only 
kept  at  bay  by  the  sense  of  spiritual  need 
which  has  refused  to  leave  entirely  the 
life  of  the  common  people.  But  if  idolatry 
is  abolished,  Buddhism  overthrown,  only  a 
form  of  Confucianism  bereft  of  all  spiritual 
sanctions  left  behind,  then  the  reign  of  agnostic 
materialism  will  begin.  "  Let  us  eat  and 
drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die "  will  be  the 
rule  of  life  for  China's  millions,  and  nothing 
will  be  left  sufficient  to  hold  in  check  the 
vices,  the  selfishness,  the  disregard  of  human 
life,  the  adoption  of  a  gospel  of  force  as  the 
last  word  of  politics,  which  mark  so  un- 
mistakably the  Chinese  who  have  said  farewell 
to  morality  and  religion. 

Things  have  reached  that  point  in  the  human 
history  of  China  at  which  it  appears  as  if  a  new 
ideal  in  religion  must  take  hold  of  its  life,  or 
the  utter  dissolution  of  the  nation  must  follow 
in  the  wake  of  an  increasing  and  final  de- 
generacy. The  spiritual  life  of  the  people  has 
no  other  training-ground  than  that  provided 


244     Regeneration  of  New  China 

by  the  Christian  enterprises  settled  in  their 
midst.  "  Apart  from  the  newly  imported 
Christianity,  China  is  approaching  the  condi- 
tion of  having  no  religion,  no  code  of  ethics 
whatever.  .  .  .  With  the  abolition  of 
Emperors,  China  has,  apart  from  Christianity, 
abolished  the  worship  of  God.  ...  It  is 
everywhere  admitted  that  there  was  never 
more  need,  in  the  ranks  of  Chinese  officialdom 
for  the  virtues  of  '  goodness,  justice,  courtesy, 
wisdom  and  fidelity,'  than  at  the  present  day. 
But  no  enforced  genuflexions  before  the  tablet 
of  a  discarded  teacher,  in  schools  and  colleges, 
will  serve  to  evolve  any  of  these  virtues."  * 

Since  this  was  written  the  attempt  has 
been  made  to  restore  validity  to  Confucian 
worship,  and  to  invest  the  President  with 
some  of  the  religious  potency  of  the  Emperor, 
but  in  effect  the  words  remain  profoundly 
true  :  it  is  Christianity  that  must  give  re- 
ligious force  to  the  acknowledged  standards 
of  morality  and  virtue  if  these  are  to  survive 
in  the  China  of  to-morrow. 

To-day  is  one  of  God's  days  in  China,  and 
like  all  such,  it  is  a  day  of  testing  and  of  judg- 
ment ;  of  judgment  for  the  Christian  people 
of  our  lands  even  more  than  for  that  great 
nation  in  the  East ;  and  the  day  is  wearing  on 

1  North  China  Herald,  2/th  Sept.,  1913. 


Claim  upon  the  West  245 

towards  its  close.  Life  does  not  wait.  The 
mighty  mass  of  China's  humanity  begins  to 
move  towards  a  goal  not  yet  determined,  and 
the  movement  is  one  which  the  Christian 
discipleship  of  our  generation  must  largely 
direct.  God's  doors  of  opportunity  do  not 
stand  for  ever  open,  and  it  is  needful  for  us 
to  say  to  ourselves  and  to  others  that  for 
China  pre-eminently,  in  the  Divine  Providence, 
now  is  the  accepted  time. 

The  call  of  the  Christian  campaign  is  in- 
sistent and  urgent ;  it  is  also  weighty — not 
alone  for  China  and  her  hundreds  of  millions 
of  unsaved  men  and  women,  but  for  the 
world  in  the  West  too.  Should  Christianity 
fail  in  its  stupendous  task  in  China,  and  the 
Christian  Church  in  that  land  prove  a  dis- 
credited or  depleted  force,  what  then  of  the 
West  in  relation  to  China  ?  In  the  present 
conditions  of  our  common  human  life,  with 
commercial  ties  throughout  the  world  tighten- 
ing and  multiplying  day  by  day,  standards 
of  life  are  bound  by  the  very  law  of  progress 
to  approximate.  It  is  a  simple  question  of 
human  necessity.  A  world  which  is  in  daily 
contact  must  have  a  common  standing-ground. 
Either  the  moral  standards  which  have  been 
created  under  Christian  influence  through  the 
long   years,    teaching   the  value    of    human 


246    Regeneration  of  New  China 

life,  care  for  the  weak  and  afflicted,  chivalry 
towards  woman  and  child,  regard  for  truth, 
honour,  righteousness,  as  the  supreme  accom- 
plishments of  life,  will  make  their  way,  and 
transform  as  they  already  transcend  the 
lower  standards  of  the  Orient,  or  those 
lower  standards  will  do  their  deadly  work  and 
the  life  of  the  whole  world  surfer  in  response. 
All  this,  and  unspeakably  much  beyond, 
hinges  upon  the  Christian  missionary  campaign 
in  our  generation.  The  issues  of  the  mission- 
ary enterprise  reach  out  to  the  ultimate 
things  of  our  world- destiny  as  well  as  to  the 
eternal  life  of  the  individual,  and  touch  the 
uttermost  limits  of  all  conceived  human 
progress.  The  world  knows  no  greater  service 
than  the  missionary  work  of  the  Christian 
Church,  and  in  no  place  is  that  service  more 
clearly  revealed  in  its  true  proportions  and 
its  far-reaching  relationships  than  in  the 
China  of  the  present. 
The  Heart  With  the  knowledge  of  this  wondrous  op- 
Enterprise,  portunity  before  us,  and  the  high  issues  of  the 
missionary  service  of  our  Churches  in  constant 
view,  what  is  it  that  holds  back  the  flow  of 
responsive  sacrifice  and  service  in  our  midst  ? 
With  such  a  redeeming  Gospel  in  our  hands, 
so  great  wealth  in  the  possession  of  our  people, 
such  a  power  in  prayer  made  possible  for  us, 


Claim  upon  the  West  247 

why  are  we  not  rising  in  mighty  response  to 
this  undeniable  claim  of  God  to  our  service 
and  to  our  gifts  of  body,  and  mind,  and 
heart  ?    What  is  it  that  we  lack  ? 

The  Church  is  not  ignorant  of  the  situation, 
for  the  daily  papers  are  now  the  ministers  of 
the  missionary  appeal ;  nor  are  Christian 
people  unimpressed  by  the  statements  so 
frequently  made  concerning  the  situation. 
Men  are  impressed,  but  not  responsive.  Is  not 
that  the  sad  fact  ?  So  much  of  our  reading, 
and  hearing,  and  conversing,  and  even,  it 
is  to  be  feared,  our  praying,  is  impersonal, 
detached  and  irresponsible.  We  do  not  face 
the  issues  of  our  Christian  service  on  the  lines 
of  personal  duty  and  individual  obedience. 
What  does  it  all  mean  to  me,  in  my  daily  life 
and  in  my  Christian  discipleship.  "  How 
much  owest  thou  thy  Lord  ? "  is  the 
question  that  needs  to  be  asked  if  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  soul  are  to  be  fulfilled.  It  can 
only  be  as  the  responsibilities  of  our  lives  are 
set  in  relationship  to  the  gift  of  God  in  Jesus 
Christ  our  Saviour  that  we  realize  the  true 
measure  of  our  duty  to  those  who  sit  in 
darkness.  Not  by  the  statement  alone  of 
opportunity  or  need  to-day  in  China  can 
any  of  us  be  led  to  a  final  decision  to 
offer  our  lives  or  our  possessions  to  the  cause 


248    Regeneration  of  New  China 

of  Christian  missions  in  China,  but  only  by 
the  crowning  conviction  that  in  Christ 
the  Chinese  are  "  brethren  for  whom  Christ 
died,"  and  to  whom  He  commissions  us  whom 
He  has  redeemed.  When  Christ  calls  men 
and  women  into  service,  missionary  devotion 
is  certain  and  constant.  Our  evangelistic 
enterprises  in  China  or  elsewhere  have  their 
foundation  in  the  love  of  Christ  for  us  and  for 
all  men,  revealed  in  His  life  of  mercy  and  His 
atoning  death.  Starting  there,  we  are  con- 
strained to  find  in  all  the  knowledge  of  op- 
portunity and  need  which  comes  to  us,  whether 
in  the  Study  Circle  or  elsewhere,  the  renewal 
of  the  commandment  to  "  evangelize  the 
nations,"  and  we  cannot  rest  until  by  some 
avenue  of  service  or  other — be  it  prayer,  or 
gift,  or  dedicated  life — we  are  bearing  our 
part  in  the  campaign  which  has  as  its  supreme 
motive  the  world's  redemption.  The  issue 
of  the  Christian  life  is  sacrificial  service,  and 
knowledge  is  its  minister.  We  shall  only 
justify  our  reading  and  our  study  of  the  mis- 
sionary situation  in  China  as  we  make  it 
effective  in  some  real  support  for  the  Christian 
campaign  in  that  land. 

A  sympathy  which  does  not  realize  itself 
in  service  is  harmful  to  the  very  cause  to  which 
we  give  it.    There  is  amongst  the  Chinese  so 


Claim  upon  the  West  249 

widespread  a  disparity  between  knowledge 
and  conduct,  profession  and  action,  that  it  is  a 
positive  danger  to  the  life  of  the  Christian 
Church.  This  disparity  needs  above  many 
things  for  its  removal  the  fortifying  example  of 
our  Western  Christian  life.  What  deduction  is 
the  Chinese  Christian  to  make  who  hears  of 
the  widespread  interest  in  the  problems  of  his 
country  and  in  the  needs  of  his  countrymen, 
and  who,  at  the  same  time,  observes  that 
the  foreign  missionary  campaign  in  his  land 
falters  and  halts  for  lack  of  adequate  support 
in  men  and  money  ?  What  if,  when  we  are 
proclaiming  the  message  of  healing  in  Christ's 
name,  our  hospitals  are  obviously  under- 
manned because  medical  men  and  women  are 
withholding  their  lives  from  their  Master  as  He 
calls  them  to  service  in  China  ?  What  other 
conclusion  can  our  Chinese  brother  draw 
than  that  with  us,  as  with  his  countrymen, 
professed  sympathy  does  not  mean  service,  and 
that  between  approving  and  doing,  here  as 
in  China,  there  is  a  gulf  fixed  ?  As  Christians 
we  hurt  rather  than  help  China  by  an  interest 
which  does  not  mean  work,  and  by  study  which 
does  not  compel  sacrifice.  In  East  and  West 
the  whole  Church  of  Christ  steps  forward  to 
conquest  as  one.  It  is  in  vain  that  British 
Christianity  calls  the  leaders  of  the  Church 


250    Regeneration  of  New  China 

in  China  to  an  evangelistic  task  from  which 
its  members  are  withholding  themselves.  We 
serve  as  we  give  both  ourselves  and  our  sub- 
stance to  the  great  work  of  which  we  now 
know  so  well.  "  Love's  strength  standeth  in 
love's  sacrifice."  We  turn  again  to  learn  the 
secret  of  successful  service  at  the  Cross  of  our 
Master. 

One  of  the  most  influential  of  all  the  Chinese 
who  have  accepted  Christ  in  recent  years  is 
a  man  who  has  held  high  office  in  the  educa- 
tional life  of  China  and  who  is  a  recognized 
authority  upon  Chinese  education.  He  had 
magnificent  prospects  before  him.  Position, 
influence,  opportunity,  all  were  his.  The  study 
of  the  New  Testament  brought  to  him  the  con- 
viction that  Christ  was  the  Saviour  of  men,  and 
his  Saviour.  After  a  period  of  struggle  and  of 
counting  the  cost  he  determined  upon  his  con- 
fession before  men.  His  dearest  friend  pleaded 
with  him  earnestly,  agonizingly.  He  pleaded 
in  vain.  Then  he  urged  him  to  secret  disciple- 
ship.  "  Bow  to  the  tablet  of  Confucius  ;  it  is 
only  an  empty  form,  and  you  can  believe  what 
you  like  in  your  heart."  It  was  a  struggle,  with 
friendship  also  wavering  in  the  balance.  But 
he  replied  :  "A  few  days  ago  One  came  to  dwell 
within  my  heart ;  He  has  changed  all  life  for 
me  for  ever.     I  dare  not  bow  to  any  other,  lest 


Claim  upon  the  West  251 

He  depart."  He  had  found  a  new  King,  one 
Jesus.  All  the  service  of  Christian  life  leads 
to  and  proceeds  from  this,  whether  in  China  or 
in  Britain.     We  must  obey  the  King. 


Bibliographical  Note. 

The  Missionary  Motive  (edited  by  W.  Paton,  M.A.) 
is  a  symposium  giving  a  survey  of  the  elements  that 
have  predominated  in  the  motives  actuating  the  leaders 
of  Christian  missions  from  New  Testament  times  till  our 
own. 

Dr  Garvie's  The  Missionary  Obligation  in  the  Light  of 
Modern  Thought  is  a  brief  and  simple  but  most 
effective  statement. 

Dr  Cochrane 's  Survey  of  the  Missionary  Occupation  oj 
China  and  Atlas  oj  China  in  Provinces  gives  information 
up  to  December  1912  of  the  actual  work  now  in  progress 
in  China,  with  statements  regarding  unreached  fields 
etc. 

Addresses  by  Mr  M.  T.  Z.  Tyau,  Dr  Lavington  Hart, 
and  Dr  Aspland,  on  the  present  situation  in  China;  will 
be  found  in  Men  and  the  World  Enterprise. 

Dr  Cochrane's  article  in  The  International  Review  of 
Missions  for  April  1912  ("Needs  of  the  New  Era  in 
China  ")  should  be  read. 


APPENDIX  I 

Historical  Notes  on  British  Missionary  Societies 

in  China 

BAPTIST  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 

In  1845  the  Baptists  began  a  Mission  in  China  which 
was  withdrawn.  In  1859  the  B.M.S.  began  its  well- 
known  work  in  North  China.  Pioneer  missionaries, 
Messrs  Kloekers  and  Hall.  Present  areas  of  work  are 
in  the  provinces  of  Shantung,  Shansi,  and  Shensi. 
Marshman,  the  Baptist  missionary  to  India,  began  the 
translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  Chinese  at  Serampone. 
The  Baptist  Women's  work  in  China  is  under  the  Baptist 
Zenana  Missionary  Society.  The  Society  has  been 
distinguished  for  its  philanthropic  work  in  Famine 
Relief  and  its  work  for  the  literati.  Outstanding  mis- 
sionary names  connected  with  the  B.M.S.  in  China  are 
Jones,  Timothy  Richard,  and  Moir  Duncan. 

CHINA  INLAND  MISSION 

Area  of  work :  Sixteen  of  the  eighteen  provinces 
of  China,  and  also  in  Chinese  Turkestan. 

The  founder  of  the  Mission  was  the  well-known 
J.  Hudson  Taylor.  He  began  work  as  agent  for  the 
Chinese  Evangelization  Society  in  1853.  The  C.I.M. 
started  in  1862,  and  in  1866  the  first  large  party  of 
volunteers  (seventeen)  sailed  for  China.  This  Mission 
has  concentrated  effort  upon  forward  evangelistic  work, 
and  its  foreign  staff  of  workers  has  grown  since  the 
beginning  from  seventeen  to  a  thousand  and  seventy- 
six.  The  evangelistic  journeys  of  some  of  the  C.I.M. 
pioneers  are  amongst  the  most  striking  in  the  missionary 

253 


254    Regeneration  of  New  China 

history  of  China,  and  these  are  still  being  made  in  certain 
regions.  The  C.I.M.  has  a  martyr-roll  of  victims  to  the 
Boxer  outbreak  and  other  anti-foreign  outbreaks  reach- 
ing to  sixty  names.  Among  the  outstanding  C.I.M. 
missionary  names  in  addition  to  the  founder  are  those 
of  the  Cambridge  seven,  also  J.  W.  Stevenson,  Durward, 
Hunter,  Broomhall  and  M'Carthy. 

CHURCH    OF    ENGLAND    MISSION    TO    NORTH 
CHINA  (GENERALLY  KNOWN  AS  S.P.G.) 

Entered  China  in  1843.  In  1863  the  first  S.P.G. 
missionary  (Dr  J.  A.  Stewart)  entered  Peking.  The 
first  missionary  martyr  under  the  Boxer  outbreak  was 
the  Rev.  S.  M.  W.  Brooks  of  this  mission.  Rev.  C.  P. 
Scott  was  the  first  Bishop  in  1880.  The  Diocese  was 
divided  in  1903,  and  a  Bishop  appointed  for  the  work  in 
Shantung  Province. 

CHURCH  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 

Work  begun  in  China  in  1844.  First  missionaries  to 
Shanghai,  Rev.  George  Smith  and  T.  M'Clatchie. 
Present  fields  of  work,  Mid-China  (Chekiang),  Fukien, 
Hong  Kong,  Canton  and  West  China.  The  Rev.  G.  E. 
Moule  went  to  China  in  1858  and  was  consecrated 
Bishop  of  Mid-China  in  1860.  A  recent  advance  has 
been  made  into  the  province  of  Hunan,  and  work  is  now 
contemplated  in  Yunnan  Province.  The  first  Chinese 
clergyman,  Rev.  Wong  Kin-Taik,  was  ordained  in  1871. 
Women's  work  is  under  the  Church  of  England  Zenana 
Missionary  Society,  and  the  first  C.M.S.  lady  worker 
was  appointed  in  1881.  The  following  well-known 
missionary  names  are  associated  with  the  C.M.S.  in 
China  :  Burdon,  Moule,  Hoarc,  Cassels,  Duncan  Main. 

THE  CHURCH  OF  SCOTLAND  MISSION  IN  CHINA 

This  Mission  has  work  only  in  one  province  with 
headquarters  at  Ichang  in  the  Hupeh  Province  ;    the 


Appendix  I  255 

pioneer  missionary  was  the  Rev.  Geo.  Cockburn.  He 
was  sent  to  China  in  1878.  The  Mission  has  developed 
its  work  in  the  districts  around  Ichang,  and  has  also 
medical  work  at  the  centre. 


FRIENDS'  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

Field  :    Szechuen  Province. 

The  first  agent  of  this  Society  in  China  was  Miss 
Henrietta  Green,  who  sailed  for  Hankow  in  1884.  Later 
Mr  and  Mrs  Davidson  entered  West  China,  in  1889,  with 
headquarters  at  Chung-king.  The  area  of  occupation 
was  extended  in  1900,  and  Chentu  was  occupied  in  1904. 
This  Society  has  accepted  special  responsibility  for  the 
West  China  Christian  University,  with  its  headquarters 
in  Chengtu. 

LONDON  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 

Began  work  in  Canton,  1807.  Pioneer  missionary, 
Rev.  Robert  Morrison,  D.D/f.  The  Pioneer  Society  "also 
to  Shanghai  and  Central  China.  Has  an  outstanding 
evangelistic  history.  At  work  in  Canton  Province, 
Hong  Kong,  the  Amoy  region,  Shanghai  and  district, 
Hankow  and  district,  Peking,  Tientsin  and  J  district. 
The  first  Chinese  convert  under  the  Reformed  [Missions 
was  baptized  by  Dr  Morrison  in  1814.  First  lady 
missionary  to  China  appointed  1868.  The  following 
are  the  outstanding  names  of  missionaries  connected 
with  the  L.M.S. :  Milne,  Medhurst,  Lockhart  (the  first 
British  medical  missionary  to  China),  Legge,  Wylie, 
Edkins,  Griffith  John,  and  James  Gilmour.  Of  dis- 
tinguished Chinese  converts,  Liang-Ah-fa,  the  first 
native  pastor  and  the  Chinese  Apostle  to  Canton,  and 
the  Rev.  Cheng  Ching-yi  are  the  best  known. 

PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND 

Fields  of  Service  :  Amoy,  Swatow,  Hakka  Region 
and  Formosa. 


256     Regeneration  of  New  China 

The  first  missionary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
England  in  China  was  that  great  evangelist,  Kev. 
W.  C.  Burns.  He  was  sent  out  in  the  year  1847  ;  he 
entered  the  Amoy  region  in  1851,  soon  after  the  occupa- 
tion of  the  district  by  the  American  Dutch  Reform 
Church  and  the  L.M.S. 

Rev.  J.  Campbell  Gibson  is  the  senior  missionary  in 
Swatow.  In  the  Amoy  Mission  a  presbytery  of  the 
native  church  was  constituted  in  1863,  and  a  Synod 
organized  in  1894.  The  work  of  this  district  is  amongst 
the  best  organized  in  China. 

The  work  in  Formosa  was  taken  up  by  Dr  Carstairs 
Douglas  in  1860.  Dr  Maxwell  was  the  first  resident 
missionary.  He  settled  in  Tainan  in  1865.  Although 
the  work  is  amongst  a  Chinese  population  it  is  not 
China  proper,  Formosa  being  under  the  Government  of 
Japan.  The  Mission  also  has  work  amongst  Chinese 
in  Singapore  and  in  the  State  of  Jahore. 

PRESBYTERIAN  MISSIONS  IN  MANCHURIA 

A.  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland 

The  Mission  work  of  this  church  in  China  is  entirely 
in  the  region  of  Manchuria.  Its  work  has  to  be  con- 
sidered side  by  side  with  that  of  the  Irish  Presbyterian 
Mission,  the  two  missions  forming  one  Presbytery  in 
that  Mission  field.  The  pioneer  of  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland  Mission  was  Dr  William  Parker,  who  was 
supported  in  the  field  by  this  Church,  though  not  sent 
out  by  them.  Dr  Alexander  Williamson,  who  was  at 
first  connected  with  the  L.M.S. ,  became  a  missionary 
of  this  Church  in  1870.  He  had  journeyed  in  Manchuria 
earlier,  as  had  also  Rev.  W.  C.  Burns,  the  missionary 
of  the  Irish  Presbyterian  Church.  The  Rev.  John  Ross 
joined  the  Mission  in  1872.  During  the  Chino- Japanese 
War,  1894-95,  the  Mission  suffered  a  good  deal,  again 
in  the  Boxer  outbreak,  and  also  during  the  period  of 
the  Russo-Japanese  War.  In  spite  of  all  these  troubles 
the  advance  made  by  the   work   of   the   Mission  has 


Appendix  I  257 

been  very  remarkable.    Its  organization  is  conspicuous 
for  its  comprehensiveness. 

Dr  Dugald  Christie  of  Mukden  is  well  known  for  his 
medical  work  in  connection  with  the  Manchurian 
Mission. 

B.  The  Irish  Presbyterian  Mission 

The  Irish  Presbyterian  Mission  entered  China  in  1869. 
In  1864  the  Kev.  James  Carson  went  out  to  Manchuria, 
and  since  that  time  the  history  of  this  Mission  has  been 
similar  to  that  of  the  United  Free  Church. 

The  Christian  Church  in  Manchuria  connected 
with  these  Missions  is  an  extremely  active  one.  It  has 
felt  the  influence  of  revival  movements  in  recent  years 
more  than  perhaps  any  other  Mission  in  China,  and  the 
effect  of  this  has  been  to  strengthen  very  considerably 
the  position  of  the  native  church. 

The  following  British  Colonial  Churches  are  engaged 
in  missionary  work  in  China  : — 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  Canada.  Fields — 
Formosa,  Honan,  Macao. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  of  New  Zealand.  Field — 
Canton. 

The  Canadian  Methodist  Church.    Field — West  China. 

The  Church  of  England  in  Canada.     Field — Honan. 

UNITED  METHODIST  MISSION 

(formerly   Methodist  New  Connexion,    Methodist  Free 
Church  and  the  Bible  Christian  Methodist  Missions) 

Fields  of  labour :  Chihli  and  Shantung,  Yunnan  and 
Kweichow,  and  Chekiang  provinces. 

The  Methodist  New  Connexion  sent  missionaries  to 
China  in  1860.  Messrs  Hall  and  Innocent  were  the 
pioneer  missionaries  and  opened  work  in  Tientsin. 
The  Methodist  Free  Church  sent  its  pioneer  worker, 
Rev.  W.  R.  Fuller,  to  Ningpo  (Chekiang  Province)  in 


258    Regeneration  of  New  China 

1864.  The  work  in  Wenchow  was  opened  in  1878  by 
Rev.  R.  I.  Exley.  The  Bible  Christian  Methodists  sent 
missionaries  to  South -West  China  in  1885,  and  as  a  result 
of  their  enterprise  a  remarkable  work  has  been  done 
amongst  the  aboriginal  tribes  of  the  provinces  of  Yunnan 
and  Kweichow.  Among  the  missionaries  of  the  United 
Methodists  in  China  the  following  well-known  names 
appear :  Innocent,  Candlin,  Swallow,  Soothill,  and 
Pollard. 


WESLEYAN  METHODIST  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 

Work  begun  in  China,  at  Hankow,  by  Rev.  J.  Cox,  in 
1862,  one  year  after  its  missionary  opening  by  Griffith 
John  (L.M.S.).  Present  fields  of  service,  Canton  and 
Kuangsi,  Hupeh  and  Hunan  provinces.  David  Hill 
joined  the  mission  in  Hupeh  in  1865,  and  his  life  of  love 
made  a  great  impression  upon  China.  Through  him 
Pastor  Hsi  was  led  to  Christ.  A  great  work  for  the 
blind  was  instituted  in  Hankow  in  1886.  Hunan  was 
entered  in  1900.  The  Rev.  G.  Piercy  was  the  pioneer 
W.M.S.  missionary  to  Canton  province,  and  Kuangsi 
was  occupied  in  1899.  Well-known  W.M.S.  missionaries 
to  China  are  David  Hill,  T.  G.  Selby,  Dr  Hodge,  and 
W.  A.  Cornaby.  Rev.  Chu  Sao-an  is  one  of  the  great 
names  among  Chinese  pastors  in  the  history  of  China 
Missions. 


APPENDIX  II 

Power  of  the  Press  in  China. 

A  Valuable  Ally. — To  show  the  enormous  possibilities 
which  lie  ahead  in  one  department  of  effort,  namely, 
that  of  school  books,  the  following  items  concerning 
the  Commercial  Press,  Shanghai,  are  instructive.     They 


Appendix  II 


259 


employ  1400  persons  with  a  pay-roll  of  about  $20,000 
per  month.  The  main  building  has  a  frontage  of  450 
feet  and  is  65  feet  deep.  In  the  letterpress  department 
there  are  53  English  and  American  made  presses, 
besides  a  few  German  machines.  The  lithographic 
department  is  equipped  with  20  cylinder  presses  and 
3  aluminium  machines.  In  1912  these  presses  used  up 
250,000  reams  of  foreign  paper,  3400  reams  of  native 
paper,  and  nearly  50,000  pounds  of  ink.  The  total 
output  of  the  type-casting  department  was  approxi- 
mately 1500  pounds  of  type  per  day.  The  gross 
volume  of  business  for  last  year  amounted  to  $2,800,000. 
The  National  Readers  of  this  Company  have  sold  to  the 
extent  of  7,000,000  copies  within  nine  years.  To  the 
credit  of  the  firm,  it  is  stated  that  ever  since  its  com- 
mencement no  anti-Christian  book  has  been  sent  forth 
from  its  presses.     They  publish  for  the  use  of 


Lower  Primary  Schools 

500  volumes 

Higher  Primary  Schools 

400 

Middle  and  Normal  Schools 

660 

Higher  and  Technical  Schools 

100 

Books  for  Children 

60 

Letter  writers 

60 

Books  on  politics  . 

.       1200 

Novels          .          . 

450 

Foreign  Language  books 

250 

Miscellaneous 

330 

Maps  and  charts  . 

72  kinds 

what  are  these  among  so  many 

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D.  M'GILLIVRAY. 

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262 


B.- ROMAN  CATHOLIC  MISSIONS 


To  whom 
Entrusted. 

05 

ft 

o 

m 

6 

1 
2 

3 

12 

Priests. 

Chris- 
tians. 

Catechu- 
mens. 

European. 

Chinese. 

Chihli     . 

Honan    . 

Manchuria 

Mongolia 

Lazarists     and 

Jesuits 
Milan  F.  M. 
Paris  F.  M. 
Belgian  F.  M. 

149 

17 

57 

129 

133 

2 
25 
42 

359,909 

9,364 
45,935 
75,263 

37,473 

3,000 

24,823 

352 

202 

490,471 

65,296 

(SECOND  REGION) 


To  whom 
Entrusted. 

p< 

O 

on 

5 

Priests. 

Chris- 
tians. 

300 
5,046 
4,298 

44,270 
112,076 

Catechu- 
mens.. 

European. 

Chinese. 

Hi  (Sinkiang)  M.     . 
Kansu  (R.  A. ) 
Shensi    . 

Shansi    . 
Shantung 

Belgian  F.  M. 

>  >          j  j 
Franciscans  & 

F.  M.  of  Rome 
Franciscans 
Franciscans   & 

German  F.  M. 

1 

3 

3 
3 

10 

4 
32 
44 

49 
120 

3 

48 

23 
42 

579 
3,144 

19,705 
79,724 

249 

116 

165  990 

103,152 

(THIRD  REGION) 


■A 

Priests. 

To  whom 

I-, 
o 

Chris- 

Catechu- 

Entrusted. 

■ 

s 

2 

European. 

Chinese. 

tians. 

mens. 

Honan    . 

F.  M.  of  Parma 

28 

11 

21,928 

"'  &  Milan  F.  M. 

Hupeh    . 

Franciscans 

3 

73 

42 

69,366 

21,001 

Hunan    . 

S.Augustinians 
&  Franciscans 

2 

44 

9 

13,961 

17,135 

Kiangsi  . 

Lazarists 

3 

56 

30 

59,813 

23,654 

Chekiang 

1 1 

2 

31 

33 

34,198 

11,275 

Kiangan 

Jesuits 

1 

128 

66 

208  164 

110,867 

13 

360 

191 

407,430 

183,932 

t<t* 

OftQ 

264        Regeneration  of  New  China 


(FOURTH  REGION) 


To  whom 
Entrusted. 

Pi 

O 
Xi 

n 
•** 

m 

Priests. 

Chris- 
tians. 

Catechu- 
mens. 

European. 

Chinese. 

Kweichow 
Szechwan 
Kienchang     . 
Yunnan 
Tibet      . 

Paris  F.  M. 
u         )> 
>>         »> 

jj         >> 

2 
4 
1 
2 
1 

10 

52 
127 
10 
29 
25 

15 
107 

3 
15 

2 

30,072 

112,872 

4,050 

13,200 

3,035 

30,000 

33,356 

1,001 

14,842 

650 

243 

142 

163,229 

80,349 

(FIFTH  REGION) 


Priests. 

To  whom 

P. 
O 

Chris- 

Catechu- 

Entrusted, 

tians. 

mens. 

m 

European. 

Chinese. 

Foochow 

_ 

1 

31 

21 

49,160 

8,000  ; 

Amoy       (without 

Formosa)    . 

S.  Dominicans 

1 

17 

7 

4,764 

2,861 

Hong-Kong   . 

Milan  F.  M. 

1 

17 

12 

17,359 

3,000 

Kwangtung  (P.  A.) 

Paris  F.  M. 

1 

70 

26 

60,339 

— 

Kwangzi  (P.  A.)     . 

>>                >5 

J 

26 

4 

4,716 

1,600 

Diocese  of  Macao  . 

)>                >> 

1 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Mission  Agencies  . 

)>               >) 

■ — ■ 

27 

— 

— 

— 

6 

188 

70 

136,338 

15,461 

Grand  Totals    . 

51 

1392 

721 

1,363,458 

448,190 

P.  A.  stands  for  Pref 

ectures  Apostolic. 

M.  stands  for  Missioi 

1. 

F.  M.  stands  foi 

*  For 

eign  Missi< 

HIS, 

S.  stands  for  Spanish. 

Ar.  B.  — In  Amoy  there  are  a  number  of  Philippine  Christians  not  recorded 
here.     In  Macao  there  are  about  60  priests  and  30,000  Christians. 


APPENDIX  IV 

Work  among  Chinese  in  Great  Britain 

Few  as  yet  have  realised  the  changed  conditions  through 
which  to-day  the  East  is  learning  from  the  West  by 
means  of  her  representatives  in  the  West.  Yet  year  by 
year,  in  increasing  numbers,  Chinese  are  coming  to 
England  as  travellers  or  for  purposes  of  study  or  business. 
In  the  British  Universities  there  are  already  more  than 
three  hundred  Chinese  students  and  it  seems  more  than 
probable  that  during  the  next  decade  their  numbers  will 
be  largely  increased.  A  moment's  consideration  will 
show  the  immeasurable,  but  as  yet  unrealized  importance 
of  these  men  in  the  social,  political,  and  spiritual  develop- 
ment of  China.  Many  of  them  are  carefully  selected 
students  who  by  their  ability  have  won  Government 
scholarships  and  will  later  return  to  positions  of  leader- 
ship in  China.  They  will,  above  all  others,  translate  the 
West  to  the  East.  It  is  therefore  necessary  that  during 
their  stay  in  this  country  they  should  have  every  oppor- 
tunity of  knowing  the  highest  in  the  West.  A  keen  spirit 
of  inquiry  holds  their  minds  together  with  a  genuine 
desire  for  friendly  intercourse  and,  were  the  West  alive 
to  the  opportunity  thus  presented,  a  body  of  men  might 
return  every  year  as  fellow  workers  for  the  kingdom  of 
God. 

Unfortunately,  however,  in  a  large  number  of  cases, 
the  converse  is  true.  The  West  presents  the  data  of 
science  or  commerce,  but  leaves  unsatisfied  man's  deepest 
needs.  The  spirit  of  true  friendship  and  love  is  rarely 
seen,  whilst  the  home  in  which  the  stranger  could  best 
learn  of  Christ  is  closed.  Quite  naturally,  therefore,  he 
is  forced  to  find  his  lodging  and  companionship  amid 
conditions  which  show  only  the  more  sordid  aspects  of 

265 


266       Regeneration  of  New  China 

Western  life.  In  such  conditions  it  almost  inevitably 
follows  that  his  standards  are  relaxed.  First  dazzled  and 
then  satiated  by  the  new  in  the  West,  a  spirit  of  agnosti- 
cism and  materialism  withers  his  ideals.  Temptations 
prove  triumphant  in  loneliness  and  he  returns  eastward 
often  the  worse  from  his  contact  with  the  West.  Were 
we  in  his  position  and  subject  to  the  same  treatment  we 
should  in  all  probability  suffer  in  the  same  way.  But  his 
tragedy  does  not  end  with  the  individual,  it  spreads  to 
homes,  villages,  towns,  and  provinces.  It  affects  a  nation 
and  generations  as  yet  unborn. 

There  can  only  be  one  true  solution  in  the  righting  of 
this  wrong,  and  it  will  come  through  a  closer  study  and 
practice  of  the  friendship  which  Jesus  taught.  Chinese, 
like  ourselves,  do  not  appreciate  friendship  tinged  with 
patronage.  They  rightly  revolt  from  any  form  of  "  spiri- 
tual highway  robbery "  which  with  rough  obtrusion 
handles  prematurely  life's  most  sacred  things.  But  they 
respond  to  a  comradeship  which  is  humble,  sympathetic, 
and  genuine,  and  it  is  through  such  friendship  that  we 
and  they  learn  of  the  highest.  It  i3  to  make  such  friend- 
ship possible  that  we  must  labour.  For  some  years  past 
the  Student  Christian  Movement  has  been  seeking  to 
produce  happier  relationships  amongst  the  students  from 
East  and  West  in  our  universities,  to  help  the  stranger 
into  comfortable  and  wholesome  lodgings  during  term 
time  and  vacation,  where  possible  and  advisable  to 
introduce  him  into  English  homes,  to  provide  hostels  in 
which  a  certain  number  of  English  and  Chinese  students 
may  live  in  common  fellowship,  and  societies  in  which 
East  and  West  may  interchange  ideas.  In  these  efforts 
they  have  worked  in  closest  co-operation  with  the  Chinese 
Students'  Christian  Union  in  Great  Britain,  which  now, 
with  a  full-time  secretary  of  its  own,  is  doing  work  of 
immeasurable  value.  The  last  months  have  also  wit- 
nessed the  growth  of  the  Anglo-Chinese  Friendship 
Bureau  of  which  Viscount  Bryce  is  now  the  President  and 
which  has  already  rendered  yeoman  service. 

But,  as  yet,  the  idea  of  happier  relationships  between 
East  and  West  is  too  new  to  have  produced  more  than 


Appendices  IV  and  V  267 

a  comparatively  few  numbers  of  workers.  Very  much 
more  help  is  needed,  more  homes  in  university  towns  and 
in  the  country  which  would  be  suitable  for  the  reception 
of  a  Chinese  student  as  a  paying  guest.  More  friends 
are  nt-eded,  who  would  welcome  a  Chinese  into  their 
family  circle  or  maybe  ask  him  to  join  them  in  some 
holiday.  But  whilst  such  service  may  not  be  possible 
for  all,  there  remains  a  task  in  which  all  can  join.  The 
two  strongest  forces  working  against  Christianity  in  the 
mind  of  the  non-Christian  student  are  first  the  conditions 
and  habits  of  Christian  lands,  and  secondly,  arising  from 
this,  the  attitude  of  nominal  Christians  to  those  of  either 
race  especially  to  the  representatives  of  races  which  in 
the  past  we  have  regarded  as  inferior.  To  change  the 
conditions  at  home  and  this  ingrained  prejudice  of  cen- 
turies is  an  immense  task,  but  it  can  be  accomplished 
by  the  united  service  of  men  and  women  who  find  their 
strength  and  inspiration  in  the  Divine. 

[Furtherfinformation  respecting  these  efforts  may  be  obtained 
from  Mr  M'Ewan  Lawson,  M.A.,  Foreign  Students'  Secretary, 
Student  Christian  Movement,  Annandale,  Golder's  Green,  N., 
or  from  Mr  H.  Wilson  Harris,  M.A.,  Secretary  to  the  Anglo- 
Chinese  Friendship  Bureau,  17  Bouverie  Street,  E.C.] 


APPENDIX  V 

Significant  Dates  in  the  History  of 
Christian  Missions  in  China 

A.D. 

Nestorian  Missionaries  entered  China  .  .  .  78 1 
Francis  Xavier  died  on  the  Island  of  Shang-chwan 

near  Canton,  while  endeavouring  to  enter  China  .  1552 
Matthew  Ricci,  a  Jesuit  Missionary,  settled  in  South 

China.  Ricci  established  his  mission  in  Peking  .  1583 
An  Edict  of  Toleration  in  favour  of  Roman  Catholic 

Christians  promulgated  by  the  Emperor  Kanghsi     1692 


268     Regeneration  of  New  China 


A.D. 


Roman    Catholic    Missionaries    ordered    to    leave 

China,  persecution  begun    .  .  .  .  .1716 

Robert  Morrison  arrived  in  Canton  .  .  .      1807 

Commissioner  Lin  destroyed  20,283  chests  of  opium 

at  Canton         .......      1839 

The   "  Opium  "   War   ended   and  five  Treaty   Ports 

opened  for  foreign  trade  and  residence         .  .      1842 

Protestant  Missions  established  in  the  Five  Ports     1843-45 
Taiping  Rebellion  .....         1850-62 

The  "  Arrow  "  War.     The  Tientsin  Treaty  signed     1857-61 
Protestant  Missionaries  enter  Central  and  North 

China       .......  1862-63 

First  Protestant  Missionary  Conference  in  China     1877 
Second    Protestant    Missionary    Conference    in 

China  .......      1890 

War  between  China  and  Japan  ....      1894 

Emperor  Kwang  Hsu  tried  to  introduce  Reforms — 

Empress  Dowager  reassumed  Imperial  Power        .      1898 
Boxer   Movement   appeared    supported    by  Chinese 
Government.     Foreigners  in   Peking  besieged  in 
British    Legation    by    Chinese    troops.     Chinese 
Christians  and  Missionaries  massacred         .  .      1900 

Peking  Taken  by  troops  of  foreign  powers         .         .     1901 
Principles  of  Moderate  Reform  adopted  by  Em- 
press Dowager  ......     1902 

Russo-Japanese  War     ......     1903 

Third    Conference    of    Protestant    Missions    in 

China       ........      1907 

Death  of  Empress  Dowager  and  Emperor  Kwang 

Hsu         ........     1909 

Anti-Manchu  Revolution  begun     .         .         .         .1911 

Manchu     Dynasty    overturned.     Chinese     Republic 

founded,  and  Religious  Toleration  granted  .  .      19 12 


A  SELECT  LIST  OF  BOOKS 

Note  on  the  Use  op  this  List 

"  Bibliogkaphy  "  would,  of  course,  be  a  misnomer  for 
so  restricted  a  selection.  The  Editor's  purpose  is  to 
supply  particulars  of  books  mentioned  in  footnotes  and 
at  the  end  of  each  chapter  in  the  present  volume,  and 
to  indicate  a  few  accessible  and  authoritative  ones 
relating  to  each  of  the  principal  topics  with  which  the 
textbook  deals.  In  some  cases  the  only  books  available 
are  expensive  or  out  of  print :  these  may  generally  be 
obtained,  however,  from  Book-clubs  or  Libraries — 
especially  the  lending  libraries  connected  with  the 
various  Mission  Houses,  the  librarians  of  which  welcome 
enquiries  and  requests  for  guidance.  Few  of  the  cheaper 
volumes  mentioned  here  will  not  be  found,  by  those  able 
to  purchase  them,  of  permanent  value,  since  most  of 
them  refer  to  many  aspects  of  Chinese  life  and  of  mission 
work  in  China.  This  is  especially  true  concerning  those 
in  Section  E. 

Readers  wishing  to  consult  fuller  lists  of  books  are 
referred  to 

(i)  A  Bibliography  jor  Missionary  Students  (Is.), 
edited  by  Canon  H.  U.  Weitbrecht,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  and 
published  in  1913  for  the  Board  of  Study  for  the  Prepara- 
tion of  Missionaries  by  Messrs  Oliphant,  Anderson,  and 
Ferrier. 

(ii)  The  very  full  Bibliography  of  current  missionary 
literature  (including  Continental  and  American  works, 

269 


270    Regeneration  of  New  China 

and  magazine  articles)  which  appears  in  each  issue  of 
The  International  Review  of  Missions. 

(iii)  The  Bibliography  in  Vol.  VI.  of  the  Edinburgh 
Conference  Report — a  general  list  and  not  one  having 
reference  to  the  Home  Base  only. 

It  may  facilitate  reference  to  the  present  list  if  the 
classes  into  which  the  books  have  been  divided  are  set 
forth  here.  They  are,  of  course,  not  mutually  exclusive, 
and  are  suggested  by  practical  convenience  alone. 

A.  Books  Costing  One  Shilling  or  Less. 

B.  Customs,  Life,  and  History  of  the  Chinese. 
0.  Changing  China. 

D.  Chinese  Literature  and  Religions. 

E.  Missions  :    History  and  Methods. 

F   Missions  :    Educational,   Medical,  and  Work 

amongst  Women. 
G.  Missions  :    Biography. 
H.  Missions  :    Principles  and  Motive. 
/.  The  Chinese  Church. 
J.  Books  By  Chinese  Authors. 
K.  Mission  Study  Text  Books. 
L.  Books  of  Reference. 
M.  Periodical  Literature. 

A.— BOOKS  COSTING  ONE  SHILLING  OR  LESS. 

These  are,  of  course,  standard  books,  many  of  them  reprints. 

1.  Adventures  of  a  Bullet,  The.     Bernard  Upward.     London 

Missionary  Society,  London,  1914.  Is.  net.  A  mis- 
sionary's experience  of  Red  Cross  work  during  the  siege 
of  Hankow. 

2.  Beloved  Physician  of  Tsang  Ohou,  The.     (Dr  A.  W.  Peill), 

J.  Peill.  Headley,  London,  n.d.  Is.  net.  Experi- 
ences of  a  young  doctor,  taken  from  a  series  of  charming 
letters,  1896-1906. 

3.  China  and  the  Manchus.     H.  A.  Giles,  M.A.,  LL.D.     Cam- 

bridge University  Press,  1912.  Is.  net.  A  brief  sketch 
of  Chinese  history  in  relation  to  the  Manchu  power,  with 
a  good  account  of  the  recent  Revolution. 


A  Select  List  of  Books        271 

4.  Chinese   Religion :     Confucianism,    Taoism,   and  Buddhism. 

M.  H.  Hughes.  "  The  Lay  Reader,"  7  Dean's  Yard, 
Westminster,  1913.     2d.     Succinct  magazine  articles. 

5.  Civilisation    of  China,    The.     H.    A.    Giles,    M.A.,    LL.D. 

Williams  &  Norgate  (Home  Univ.  Lib.).  London,  1911. 
Is.  net.  Describes  development  of  characteristics  and 
customs. 

6.  David  Hill :   an  apostle  to  the  Chinese.     W.  T.  A.  Barber, 

D.D.  Kellv,  London,  1906.  Is.  net.  A  briefer  sketch  of 
David  Hill  "(see  No.  52). 

7.  Edinburgh,   1910.     An   Account  and  Interpretation  of  the 

World  Missionary  Conference.  W.  H.  T.  Gairdner, 
M.A.  Oliphant,  Edinburgh,  1913.  Is.  net.  An  ex- 
cellent summary  of  the  findings  of  the  Eight  Commissions. 

8.  In  the  Land  of  the  Blue  Qown.     Mrs  A.  E.  Little.     Everett, 

London,  1912.  Is.  net.  A  picture  of  China  before  the 
Great  Change.     First  published  in  1902. 

9.  Men  and   the    World  Enterprise.     Oliphant,   and  the   Lay- 

men's Missionary  Movement,  London,  1913.  Is.  net. 
Addresses  delivered  at  the  first  national  conference  of  the 
L.M.M.  in  England,  Buxton,  1913. 

10.  Pastor   Hsi.     Mrs    Howard    Taylor.      Morgan    &    Scott, 

London,  1913.  6d.  net.  The  story  of  a  Confucian 
scholar  converted  from  opium  and  transformed  into  a 
great  Chinese  pastor  under  the  influence  of  David  Hill. 

11.  Religions  of  the  World.     G.  M.  Grant,  D.D.     A.  &  C.  Black, 

Morton,  or  R.  &  R.  Clark,  London  and  Edinburgh,  1902. 
6d.  net.  A  Guild  Text  Book,  full  and  concise.  A  larger 
volume  by  the  same  author  is  in  the  Guild  Library  at 
Is.  6d. 


B.-0USTOMS,    LIFE    AND    HISTOEY    OF    THE 

CHINESE. 

12.  China.     R.   K.    Douglas.     Unwin,   London,   1899.     5s.     A 

good  volume  in  the  "  Story  of  the  Nations  Series."  Takes 
special  account  of  the  last  three  centuries.  Should  be 
supplemented  by  No.  3. 

13.  China :     Her    History,   Diplomacy,  and    Commerce.     C.    H. 

Parker.  Dutton,  New  York,  1901.  $2.50.  Rich  in 
general  information  gathered  from  Chinese  sources  and 
from  twenty-five  years'  residence  in  Consular  Service. 

14.  China    under    the    Searchlight.     W.    A.    Cornaby.     Unwin, 

London,  n.d.  6s.  Graphic  account  of  customs,  char- 
acteristics, etc. 

15.  Chinamen  at  Home.     T.  G.  Selby.     Hodder  &  Stoughton, 

London,  1900.  3s.  6d.  Simple  but  illuminating.  Deals 
with  social  life,  literature,  religions,  mission  problems, 
etc. 


272     Regeneration  of  New  China 

16.  Chinese  at  Home,  The.    J.  Dyer  Ball,  I. S.O.    R.T.S.,  London, 

1911.  5s.  Descriptive  of  domestic  and  public  life  :  the 
author  has  spent  his  life  as  a  civil  servant  in  South  China. 

17.  Chinese  Characteristics.     Arthur  H.  Smith,  D.D.     Oliphant, 

Edinburgh  and  London,  1894.  7s.  6d.  A  humorous 
presentation  of  shrewd  observations  by  one  of  the  fore- 

\most  American  missionaries  in  China. 
8.  Chinese  People,  The.  Ven.  Arthur  Evans  Moule,  D.D. 
S.P.C.K.,  London,  1914.  5s.  History,  literature, 
government,  the  story  of  missions,  etc.,  by  a  C.M.S. 
missionary  of  fifty  years'  standing.  Accurate  and 
scholarly. 

19.  John  Chinaman.     E.  H.  Parker.     Unwin,  London.     3s.  6d. 

Detached  sketches.  That  of  his  "  boy  "  specially  read- 
able.    Not  very  favourable  to  missions. 

20.  Men  and  Manners  in  Modern  China.     J.  MacGowan.    Unwin, 

London,  1912.  12s.  6d.  net.  Very  readable :  based 
on  a  long  lifetime  of  missionary  work  in  Amoy.  Char- 
acteristics, social  and  religious  customs  sympathetically 
described. 

21.  Village  Life  in  China.     Arthur  H.  Smith,  D.D.     Oliphant, 

Edinburgh  and  London,  1900.  7s.  6d.  A  valuable  and 
racy  treatment  of  the  social  system  of  Old  China. 

22.  Middle    Kingdom,    The.    S.     Wells    Williams.     Scribner, 

New  York,  1883.  2  vols.  $9.00.  An  exhaustive  treatise 
on  Chinese  history,  life  and  literature. 


C— CHANGING  CHINA. 

23.  Changing  Chinese,  The.     E.  A.  Ross.     Unwin,  London,  1911. 

10s.  6d.  net.  By  an  American  professor  of  sociology. 
An  acute  analysis  of  China's  prospects  in  commerce, 
politics,  etc.,  based  on  a  study  of  natural  resources, 
national  characteristics,  etc.     Extremely  readable. 

24.  China   in   Transformation.      A.  R.  Colquhoun.      Harper, 

London,  1912.     5s. 

25.  China  under  the  Empress  Dowager.     J.   O.   P.   Bland  and 

E.  Backhouse.  London,  1910.  A  well-informed  and 
judicious  estimate  of  forces  at  work  in  the  government 
of  China  previous  to  the  Revolution. 

26.  New  Era  in  Asia,  The.     G.  Sherwood  Eddy,  M.A.      United 

Council  for  Missionary  Education  and  Oliphant,  London, 
1914.  3s.  6d.  net.  Account  of  a  tour  with  Dr  Mott 
among  Universities  of  the  East.and  the  impressions  gained. 

27.  Old    Forces    in    New    China.     G.     Lannino.     Probsthain, 

London,  1912.  10s.  6d.  net.  Papers  by  a  publicist  and 
educationalist  long  resident  in  China.  Valuable  analysis, 
though  critical  in  its  attitude  to  Christianity  in  China. 


A  Select  List  of  Books        273 


D.— CHINESE  LITEKATUKE  AND  KELIGIONS. 

28.  Buddhism,  Three  Lectures  on.     Dr  E.   J.   Eitel.    Lane  & 

Crawford,  Hong  Kong,  1884.  Price  in  England  about 
5s.  Popular,  but  thorough,  treating  the  subject  his- 
torically, theoretically,  and  practically. 

29.  Buddhism   in   China.     S.    Beal.     S.P.C.K.,   London,    1884. 

2s.  6d.  Clear  account,  with  a  good  chapter  on  the  Chinese 
modification  of  original  Buddhism. 

30.  China   and    Religion.     E.    H.    Parker.     Murray,    London, 

1905.  12s.  A  dispassionate  and  full  account  of  the 
religions  of  China  and  of  the  position  of  Christianity  and 
Islam  there. 

31.  Confucianism    and    Taoism.     R.     K.    Douglas.     S.P.C.K., 

1879.  2s.  6d.  Scholarly  and  untechnical.  Written  by 
an  official  of  long  experience  in  China. 

32.  Creed  of  Half  Japan,  The.     Arthur  Lloyd.     Smith  Elder, 

London,  1911.  7s.  6d.  A  sympathetic  account  of 
Northern  Buddhism,  the  thesis  of  the  author  (an  Anglican 
missionary  who  became  Professor  of  English  in  Tokyo) 
being  that  Christian  influence  early  reached  Buddhism 
through  Gnosticism,  Nestorianism,  and  Manichseism. 
Most  interesting :   to  be  read  with  discrimination. 

33.  History  of  Chinese  Literature,  A.     H.  A.  Giles,  M.A.,  LL.D. 

Hememann,  London,  1901.  6s.  By  the  Professor  of 
Chinese  at  Cambridge.     The  best  outline,  with  quotations. 

34.  Islam  in  China.     Marshall  Broomhall,  B.A.     Morgan  & 

Scott,  London,  1910.  7s.  6d.  net.  "  A  careful  investi- 
gation of  the  origin,  distribution,  and  characteristics  of 
Chinese  Moslems." 

35.  Mind  of  Mencius,  The.     E.  Faber,  American  Presbyterian 

Mission  Press,  Shanghai.  10s.  6d.  in  England.  An 
account  of  the  great  disciple  of  Confucius  by  the  supreme 
authority  on  the  subject  of  his  teachings. 

36.  Original   Religion  of  China,   The.     John   Ross.     Oliphant, 

Edinburgh  and  London,  1909.  5s.  net.  Chiefly  con- 
cerned with  Confucianism.  Maintains  the  monotheistic 
view.     Interestingly  written. 

37.  Religions  of  China,  The.  James  Legge.  Hodder,  London,  1880. 

5s.  Out  of  print,  but  to  be  obtained  second-hand  and  of 
libraries.  Very  full  quotations  from  the  Chinese  Classics. 
Lucid  and  authoritative. 

38.  Religions  of  the   Chinese,   The.      Dr   J.    J.   M.    de   Groot. 

Macmillan,  London,  1910.  6s.  6d.  Takes  the  animistic 
view,  but  gives  a  full  description  of  the  practical  as  well 
as  the  theoretical  side  of  the  religions. 

39.  Three**  Religions  of  China,    The.     W.    E.    Soothtll,    M.A. 

Hodder,  London,  1913.  6s.  Lectures  given  at  Oxford 
during  a  vacation  course  for  missionary  students.     Traces 


274     Regeneration  of  New  China 

development  of  the  religions,  treats  of  their  attitude  to 
the  great  common  needs  of  men,  gives  copious  quotations 
from  classics.     Most  useful  for  all  purposes. 

N.B. — Small  volumes  of  excerpts  from  Chinese  Litera- 
ture have  been  published,  but  these  rarely  give  a  true 
impression  of  the  works  from  which  they  are  taken. 
Students  wishing  to  read  translations  will  be  well  advised 
to  obtain  from  libraries  the  relevant  volumes  of  the  series 
published  by  the  Clarendon  Press  under  the  general  title 
The  Sacred  Books  of  the  East.  Most  readers  will  find  the 
books  in  the  above  list — especially  Nos.  33,  35,  37,  39 — 
adequate  in  both  quotation  and  interpretation. 

In  addition  to  the  books  classified  in  this  section, 
excellent  chapters  on  Chinese  Religions  will  be  found 
in  Nos.  15,  18,  20,  43,  45,  78. 

E.— MISSIONS  :    HISTOEY  AND  METHODS. 

40.  Century  of  Protestant   Missions   in   China,   A.     Edited   by 

D.  MacGillivray.  Shanghai,  1907.  $3.00.  The  most 
complete  summary  yet  produced.  Available  at  most 
Mission  House  Libraries.     See  also  No.  81. 

41.  Christianity   in    China.     The    Abb£    Htjc.     New    York.     2 

vols.  $2.00.  Out  of  print,  but  available  at  libraries. 
A  full  account  of  early  missions  and  of  modern  Roman 
Catholic  ones. 

42.  Conquest  of  the    Cross   in    China,    The.     Jacob    Speicher. 

Revell,  Edinburgh  and  London,  1907.     5s.  net. 

43.  Mission  in  China,  A.     W.   E.   Soothill,  M.A.     Oliphant, 

Edinburgh  and  London,  1907.     5s.  net. 

44.  Mission     Methods    in    Manchuria.      John     Ross,      D.D. 

Oliphant,  Edinburgh  and  London,  1903.     3s.  6d. 

45.  Mission   Problems   and   Mission   Methods   in   South   China. 

J.  Campbell  Gibson,  D.D.  Oliphant,  Edinburgh  and 
London,  1902.     6s. 

The  foregoing  four  volumes  each  deals  comprehensively 
with  the  organisation  and  problems  of  a  mission  station 
or  district.  The  authors,  distinguished  missionaries  of 
long  experience,  treat  of  their  own  respective  parts  of 
China,  but  take  into  account  Chinese  characteristics  and 
religions,  missionary  history,  the  relationship  of  Chinese 
and  foreign  workers,  and  the  New  Testament  ideal  of 
the  Church. 

46.  Thirty  Years  in  Moukden.   1883-1913.    Being  the  Experiences 

and  Recollections  of  Dugald  Christie,  C.M.G.,  F.R.C.S., 
F.R.C.P.  Edin.  Edited  by  his  wife.  Constable,  London, 
1914.  8s.  6d.  net.  The  most  recent  and  full  account 
of  Mission  work  in  Manchuria.  Shows  the  oneness  of 
Manchuria  with  China. 

N.B. — Reference  should  be  made  to  the  Histories  of  the 
various  Societies. 


A  Select  List  of  Books        275 

F.-MISSIONS:    EDUCATIONAL,  MEDICAL,  AND 

WOKK  AMONGST  WOMEN. 

•47.  Changing  China.  The  Rev.  Lord  William  Gascoyne-Cecil. 
Nisbet,  London,  1910.  3s.  6d.  A  review  of  modern 
tendencies  in  China,  with  an  especial  plea  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  Christian  Universities. 

48.  Christian  Education  of  Women  in  the  Far  East.  Student 
Christian  Movement,  London,  1913.  2s.'  Addresses 
delivered  at  a  Conference  of  Women  Educationalists  in 
Oxford,  Sept.  1912. 

49.  Dr  Apricot  of  Heaven  Below.  K.  de  Gruche.  Marshall, 
Edinburgh  and  London,  1912.  2s.  6d.  net.  A  readable 
sketch  of  work  carried  on  by  Dr  Duncan  Main  at  Hang- 
chow. 

50.  Education  of  Women  in  China,  The.  Margaret  E.  Burton. 
Revell,  London,  1911.  3s.  6d.  net.  The  most  illuminat- 
ing and  accurate  survey.     See  also  No.  66. 

See  also  Nos.  2,  26,  43,  44,  45,  46,  51,  53,  56,  58,  75. 
G.— MISSIONS :  BIOGRAPHY. 

51.  Arthur  Jackson,  The  Story  of.  A.  J.  Costain,  M.A.  Hodder 
&  Stoughton,  London,  1910.  2s^  6d.  The  story  of  a 
young  medical  missionary  who  laid  down  his  life  after 
only  ten  weeks  of  foreign  service  in  order  to  stem  the 
advance  of  plague  at  Moukden. 

52.  David  Hill,  Missionary  and  Saint.  W.  T.  A.  Barber,  D.D. 
Kelly,  London,  1898.  3s.  6d.  A  man  of  extraordinary 
personal  influence  over  the  Chinese.     See  also  No.  6. 

53.  Griffith  John.  R.  Wardlaw  Thompson,  D.D.  R.T.S. 
London,  1908.  Popular  ed.,  revised.  3s.  6d.  Also 
a  smaller  biography  by  Nelson  Bitton.  London  Mis- 
sionary Society,  1912.  9d.  A  pioneer  in  Central  China, 
opening  up  Hunan,  the  province  which  resisted  Chris 
tianity  longest  and  most  bitterly. 

54.  James  Gilmour  of  Mongolia.  Richard  Lovett.  R.T.S., 
London,  1893.  Is.  6d.  A  story  of  isolated  pioneering 
over  the  borders  of  North  China. 

55.  James  Legge.  H.  E.  Legge.  R.T.S.,  London,  1905.  3s.  6d. 
A  missionary  who  became  the  greatest  of  Chinese  scholars 
and  translators  of  the  Chinese  Classics. 

56.  John  Kenneth  Mackenzie.  M.  I.  Bryson.  Revell.  6s. 
One  of  the  greatest  of  medical  missionaries  in  China. 

57.  Princely  Men  in  the  Heavenly  Kingdom.  Harlan  P.  Beach, 
D.D.  New  York.  Missionary  Education  Movement, 
1903.  35  cents.  Brief  studies  of  Robert  Morrison, 
John  Kenneth  Mackenzie,  James  Gilmour,  J.  L.  Nevius 
George  L.  Mackay,  and  the  Chinese  Martyrs  of  1900. 


276     Regeneration  of  New  China 

58.  Robert  Morrison.  W.  J.  Townsend.  Partridge,  London,  n.d. 
Is.  6d.  A  popular  sketch.  (The  standard  biography  by 
Mrs  Morrison,  in  two  vols.,  has  long  been  out  of  print.) 


H.— MISSIONS  :    PEINCIPLES  AND  MOTIVE. 

59.  Missionary  Methods :   S.  Paul's  or  Ours.     Roland  Allen, 

M.A.  R.  Scott,  London,  1912.  5s.  The  author  was  a 
missionary  in  China  and  pleads  for  an  earlier  acknow- 
ledgment by  missions  of  the  independence  of  the  Chinese 
Church  in  order  that  the  missionary  force  may  be  free 
for  wider  evangelisation. 

60.  Missionary  Motive,  The.     Edited  by  W.  Paton,  M.A.  Student 

Christian  Movement,  London,  1913.  Is.  6d.  and  2s.  net. 
A  symposium  by  various  authors  setting  forth  the  motives 
that  have  animated  Christian  missions  from  Apostolic 
days  through  mediseval  missions  to  the  present  time. 

61.  Missionary  Obligation  in  the  Light  of  Modern  Thought,  The. 

Principal  A.  E.  Gab  vie,  D.D.  L.M.S.  and  Hodder, 
London,  1914.  2s.  net.  Ancient  Merchant  Lectures 
discussing  briefly  and  in  popular  style,  but  with  great 
force,  the  effect  of  modern  views  concerning  the  Bible, 
non-Christian  religions,  theology,  etc.,  upon  the  mis- 
sionary obligations. 


I.— THE  CHINESE  CHURCH. 

62.  China  in  Legend  and  Story.     C.   Campbell  Brown,  M.A. 

Oliphant,  London,  1907.     3s.  6d.  net. 

63.  Chinese    St    Francis,    A.      The    story    of    Brother    Mao. 

C.  Campbell  Brown,  M.A.  Oliphant,  London,  1911. 
2s.  6d.  net. 

64.  Heathen  Heart,  The.     An  Account  of  the  Reception  of  the 

Gospel  among  the  Chinese  of  Formosa.  Campbell  N. 
Moody,  M.A.     Oliphant,  London,  1907.     3s.  6d.  net. 

65.  Saint  of  Formosa.     Life  and  Worship  in  a  Chinese  Church. 

Campbell  N.  Moody,  M.A.  Oliphant,  London,  1912. 
3s.  6d.  net. 

The  above  all  depict  the  way  in  which  Christianity 
appeals  to  the  Chinese  and  the  sort  of  Christian  that  he 
makes. 

66.  Notable  Women  in  Modern  China.     Margaret  E.  Burton. 

Revell,  London,  1912.  3s.  6d.  net.  Charming  sketches 
of  six  Chinese  Christian  women. 

67.  Revival    in    Manchuria,    The.     J.     Webster.     Morgan    & 

Scott,  London,  1910.  6d.  Letters  describing  the  re- 
ligious fervour  of  which  Chinese  Christians  are  capable 
in  time  of  revival. 


A  Select  List  of  Books        277 

68.  Some  Typical  Christians  of  South  China.      W.  S.  Pakenham 

Walsh.  Marshall,  London,  1905.  2s.  6d.  "An  answer 
to  the  question — Does  the  Gospel  really  change  the 
heart  and  life  of  a  Chinaman  ?  " 

J.—BOOKS  BY  CHINESE  AUTHOKS. 

69.  China's  Only  Hope.    Viceroy  Chang  Chih  Tung.     Oliphant, 

London,  1900.  3s.  6d.  An  appeal  for  educational 
advance  in  China. 

70.  Chinese  Crisis  from  Within,  The.     Wei  Chen. 

71.  My  Life  in  China  and  America.     Yung  Wing.     New  York. 

$2.50.  An  autobiography  by  a  Chinese  pioneer  in 
Education. 

72.  Story  of  a  Chinese  Oxford  Movement,  TJie.     Ku  Hung  Ming. 

Shanghai,  1910. 

K.- MISSION  STUDY  TEXT-BOOKS. 

73.  Call  of  Cathay,   The.     W.   A.   Cornaby,   with  chapters  by 

S.  G.  Tope,  G.  A.  Clayton,  and  E.  C.  Cooper.  W.M.M.S., 
London,  1910.  Is.  6d.  net.  Prepared  for  the  W.M.M.S. 
Centenary.  The  historical  chapters  deal  with  Wesleyan 
Missions  only,  but  the  book  has  much  that  is  of  general 
interest. 

74.  Decisive   Hour  of  Christian   Missions,    The.     J.    R.    Mott, 

LL.D.  U.C.M.E.,  London,  1910.  Based  on  the  Report 
of  Commission  I.  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference.  A 
general  survey  of  the  field  waiting  to  be  won. 

75.  Emergency  in  China,  The.     J.  Hawks  Pott,  D.D.     M.E.M., 

New  York,  1913.  In  England  of  U.C.M.E.  2s.  6d.  net. 
Most  valuable  sketch  of  the  effect  upon  the  prospects  of 
Christianity  in  China  of  recent  political  events  and  the 
opportunity  they  create. 

76.  New   Life   in   China,   The.     E.    W.    Wallace,    B.A.,    B.D. 

U.C.M.E.,  London,  1914.  Is.  net.  Sketch  by  a  mis- 
sionary in  W.  China  of  the  effect  upon  the  common  people 
of  the  new  conditions  there,  and  the  call  to  the  Christian 
Church  of  this  situation. 

77.  Our  Opportunity  in  China.     J.  A.  S.  Batty.     London,  S.P.G. 

Is.  Chiefly  concerned  with  S.P.G.  work. 
v78.  Uplift  of  China,  The.  Arthur  H.  Smith,  D.D.  New 
edition,  revised  and  rewritten.  U.C.M.E.,  London, 
1914.  Is.  net.  General  sketch  of  the  people,  their  land 
and  religions,  also  of  missionary  history  and  methods. 
Chapters  summarising  the  events  of  the  Revolution  and 
the  new  movement  towards  co-operation  and  union. 


278     Regeneration  of  New  China 


L.— BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE. 

79.  China  Year  Booh.     M'Corquodale,  Glasgow.     Annually,  10s. 

Commercial,  political,  and  public  life  generally. 

80.  China  Mission    Year  Book,   1910-14.     Edited  by  D.   Mac- 

Gillivray,  M.A.,  D.D.  Christian  Literature  Society  for 
China,  Shanghai.  In  England  of  R.T.S.  5s.  each 
volume.  Complete  annual  survey  of  all  missions  with 
most  valuable  articles  on  various  aspects  of  mission 
work  and  on  outstanding  events  or  topics  of  the  year. 

81.  Chinese  Empire,  The.     Edited  by  Marshall  Broomhall, 

B.A.  Morgan  &  Scott,  London,  1907.  7s.  6d.  Now 
out  of  print.  A  missionary  survey  of  China  by  provinces. 
No.  84  is  necessarily  replacing  it,  being  more  recent,  but 
it  has  an  exceedingly  valuable  historical  introduction 
giving  a  succinct  history  of  missions  in  China  down  to 
1907,  and  a  useful  chronological  Appendix. 

82.  The  Continuation  Committee  Conferences  in  Asia,   1912-13. 

Published  by  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  in  New 
York,  1913.  Obtainable  from  the  Continuation  Com- 
mittee Offices,  1  Charlotte  Square,  Edinburgh.  7s.  6d. 
A  brief  account  of  the  district  and  national  Conferences 
(including,  of  course,  those  in  China)  and  a  full  record  of 
their  findings. 

83.  Imperial  History  of  China  :    History  of  the  Empire  as  com- 

piled by  the  Chinese  Historians.  J.  MacGowan.  Probs- 
thain,  London,  1906.     21s.  net. 

84.  Survey  of  the  Missionary  Occupation  of  China.     J.  Cochrane, 

M.B.,  CM.  Christian  Literature  Society  for  China, 
Shanghai,  1913.  In  England  of  R.T.S.  3s.  6d.  Invalu- 
able. The  information  is  complete  up  to  December  1912, 
and  is  arranged  under  provinces.  An  atlas  of  mis- 
sionary occupation  (6s.)  accompanies  it,  but  is  less  im- 
•  portant. 

85.  Things  Chinese.     J.  Dyer  Ball,  LS.O.     Murray,  London, 

1904.  Fourth  edition,  12s.  Arranged  alphabetically.. 
This  is  a  complete  dictionary  of  history,  literature,  re- 
ligion, customs,  government,  etc.,  most  interestingly 
written  by  a  close  and  sympathetic  student  of  Chinese 
affairs,  during  his  civil  service  career  in  Hong  Kong. 

86.  World  Missionary  Conference,  Edinburgh   1910.     Report,  in 

nine  volumes.  Oliphant,  Edinburgh  and  London,  1910. 
2s.  net  per  volume.  Each  contains  the  report  of  one  of 
the  Commissions  of  Enquiry,  with  the  discussion  of  it 
at  the  Conference.  The  ninth  volume  contains  addresses 
delivered  at  the  Conference.  The  Eight  Commission 
Reports  are  under  the  following  headings  : — (1)  Carrying 
the  Gospel ;  (2)  The  Church  in  the  Mission  Field ; 
(3)   Christian   Education  ;    (4)  The  Missionary  Message ; 


A  Select  List  of  Books        279 

(5)  Preparation  of  Missionaries ;  (6)  The  Home  Base  J" 
(7)  Missions  and  Governments  ;  (8)  Co-operation  and  Unity. 

87.  The   Statistical   Atlas   of  Christian   Missions,   compiled   by 

Commission  No.  1,  has  information  to  1907,  and  contains 
a  complete  directory  of  Missionary  Societies,  Stations, 
etc.,  as  well  as  the  specially  prepared  maps.  Price, 
18s.  net.  A  new  edition  has  been  issued  (1912)  by 
the  American  Student  Christian  Movement.  Price,  in 
England,  £1,  Is. 

M.-PERIODICAL  LITERATURE. 

88.  The  East  and  the  West.     Quarterly,  Is.,  is  published  by  the 

S.P.G.,  Tufton  Street,  Westminster,  S.W.,  under  the 
the  editorship  of  Canon  C.  H.  Robinson,  D.D.  It  con- 
tains articles  on  missionary  problems  of  general  interest 
written  by  missionaries  and  others  attached  to  all 
societies.     The  best  general  missionary  magazine. 

89.  The  International  Review  of  Missions.     Quarterly,   2s.   6d. 

Annual  subscription,  8s.  Published  by  the  Oxford 
University  Press,  for  the  Edinburgh  Continuation  Com- 
mittee. Edited  by  J.  H.  Oldham,  M.A.,  secretary  to  that 
Committee,  of  which  it  is  the  official  organ.  It  is  an 
international  medium  of  missionary  information,  opinions, 
and  policies,  and  should  be  read  by  every  serious  student 
of  Foreign  Missions. 

90.  The  Student  Movement,  3s.  per  annum,  issued  monthly  in 

term  time  by  the  Student  Christian  Movement,  93  Chancery 
Lane,  W.C.,  frequently  contains  articles  by  men  and 
women  working  abroad  (especially  among  students),  and 
by  leaders  of  missionary  societies  at  home. 

91.  N.B. — The  Chinese  Review,   Is.   monthly,  by  post   Is.   2d., 

obtainable  only  at  42  Hillfield  Road,  London  N.W.,  is  a 
magazine  owned  and  conducted  entirely  by  young  Chinese 
in  Britain,  and  contains  articles  by  both  Chinese  and 
English  writers  concerning  China,  aiming  chiefly  at 
giving  "  the  Chinese  view  on  questions  of  moment  and 
interest." 

92.  The  East  in  the  West  is  the  organ   of  the  Chinese  Students' 

Christian  Union  in  Great  Britain.  Published  half-yearly. 
Subscriptions  (Is.  2d.,  post  free),  to  be  sent  to  the 
Business  Manager,  the  Rev.  C.  S.  Wallis,  M.A.,  St  John's 
Hall,  Durham. 

93.  The  Chinese  Recorder.     Published  monthly  by  the  American 

Presbyterian  Mission  Press,  18  Peking  Road,  Shanghai. 
Subscription,  7s.  per  annum.  Very  valuable  as  a  means 
of  keeping  in  touch  with  current  movements  and  opinion 
on  the  field. 


INDEX 


Agnosticism,  34,  50 
American  National  Red  Cross 

Society,  103 
American  Presbyterian  Mission, 

85 
Ancestor-worship,  3,  4,  29,  31, 
.    37,  47,  51,  133 
and    deification   of    national 

heroes,  37,  47 
"  tablets,"  29,  47,  134 
Anglo-Chinese  College,  82 

"  Benevolent  Homes,"  204 
British     and     Foreign      Bible 

Society,  the,  115 
Buddhism,  35,  39,  40,  41,  42 

Centenary    Missionary    Con- 
ference, China,  229 
Ceremonies,  betrothal,  18,  195, 
196 
ancestor- worship,  4 
Chang  Chih-tung,   Viceroy,  48 
Character,  Chinese,  7,  S,  23,  29, 
33,  34,  49,  50,  120  ff.,  243 
"Characters,"    30 
Charms,  29,  44,  125 
Children,  selling  of,  193,  194 
China — 

intellectualism  in,  124,  125 
modern    changes    in,    17-19, 

57,58 
sense  of  national  unity,  141 
social   conditions,    129,    140, 
141,  183  ff. 
Ching  Ming  festival,  135 
Christian  Literature  Society  for 

China,  84 
Christians,    Chinese,    150-161 
capability  of,  168,  169 
demands     made     by    Chris- 
tianity on,  182,  183 
280 


Christ ians,  Chinese  (contin  ued) — 

object  to  denominationalism, 
174 
Christianity — 

its  appeal  to  China,  22,  99,100 

difficulties    confronting,    56, 
57,  58,  122  ff. 

early    days    of,    62,    63,    64, 
65-71 

and  education,  105  ff. 

evangelistic,  117,  118,  225 

influence  of,  78,  99,  104,  105 

and  social  reforms,  100-102, 
192  ff. 
Church,  the — 

and  leadership,  156,  159,  160 

and  politics,  210 

and  unity,  173,  177 

attitude  towards  social  pro- 
blems, 206,  207 

Chinese,  174 

danger   of   over-emphasis   of 
Western  methods,   152  ff. 

difficulties  confronting,  122$., 
171  ff.,  187  ff. 

hindrances      of      denomina- 
tionalism, 173,  174 

membership  of,  127,  128 

need  for  trained  leadership, 
117,    118 

need  for  educational  develop- 
ments, 116,  117,  163 

Orthodox,  70 

training  of  evangelists,  117 
Church  Missionary  Society,  230 
Clubs,  187 

Confucianism,   35,   36,   37,  41, 
122,  123,  213,  214 

"  book  of  filial  pietv,"  136 

failure  of,  193,  213,  214 

the  "  Superior  Man,"  52 
Confucius,  36,  47,  50,  51 


Index 


281 


Co-operation,  227,  229,  232, 
234 

Continuation  Committee,  Na- 
tional Conference  of,  177, 
198 

Corvino,  John  de  Monte,  65,  66 

Customs,   135-138,   195,   196 

Demon-possession,    126 

"  Doctrine  of  the  Mean,"  the, 

214 
"  Door  of  Hope,"  the,  195 

Education — 

the  Church  and,  156 
Government     Report     for 

Chihli,  1912,  110 
the  masses  and,  167,  168 
and  missions,  105  ff. 
present  condition  of,  110,  116 
printing  press  and,  84,  85 
women  and,  165,  167 

Eddy,  Mr  G.  Sherwood,  231 

"Face,"   201 

Feasts,  137,  138 

Feng-Shui,  43 

"  Filial  piety,"  135 

Footbinding,  18,  100 

"  Four  Companions,"  the,  35 

Gambling,  129,  206 

Government,  131,  132 

Greek     Church,    vide    Church, 

Orthodox 
Groot,  Doctor  de,  31 

"  Hall  of  the  Three  Religions," 

35 
Han-Yu,  45 
Hart,  Sir  Robert  (quoted),  105, 

106 
Hart,  Doctor  Lavington,  158 
Hue,  Abbe  (quoted),  97 
Hwei-Kwan,  187 

Infanticide,  203,  204 
Intellectualism,  19,  121 

materialistic    tendencies    of, 
55,  122 


Jackson,   Doctor  Arthur,   104 
Jesuits,  missionary  work  of,  66 

Kang  Hsi,  69 

"  Kitchen  God,"  44 

Kuo  Ming  Tang,  the,  211 

Kwan-Ti,    47 

Kwan  Yin,  44 

Kwang-Hsu,   Emperor,   10,    11 

Laotze,  49 

Legge,   Doctor  James,  30,  76, 

81,    82 
Li- Yuan  Hung,  215 
Literature,  113,  116,  143 
missions  and,  81,82, 114,  228, 

229 
Lockhart,  Dr  William,  77 
London  Missionary  Society,  76 
London    Mission    Independent 

Church  of  Hong-Kong,  157 
Lun-Yu,  51 

Malacca    Missionary    Institu- 
tion, 74 
Manchus,  the,  15,  16,  68,  69 
Medical  Missions,  vide  Missions 
Methodist     Episcopal     Mission 

of  N.  America,  229 
Milne,  Dr,  72,  73,  220 
Missions — 
American,   82 

and    difficulties    caused    by 

treaty  dependence,  190, 191 

educational  task  of,  180,  227,. 

228 
individual  relationship   with 

Chinese,  87,  162 
limitations  of,  148 
medical,  76,  77,  121,  228 
Nestorian,  62-65 
occupied  area  in  China,  221, 

222 
Roman,  65 
reforms,  as  factor  in  modern, 

83,    84 
social  influence  of,  78 
and  unity,  175,  176 
Mohammedanism,  40 


282     Regeneration  of  New  China 


Morrison,  Robert,  71  ff.,  220 

Anglo-Chinese   College,   82 
Mott,  Dr  J.  R,  231 

National    China    Conference, 

1913,  232 
Nature-worship,  31,  37,  43 
Nestorian    Missions,    vide   Mis- 
sions 
"tablet,"    63 

Officials,  corruption  of,  130, 

131,  212 
Opium — anti-movement,    101 
refuges,  102 

Pai,  134 

Palladius,   Archimandrite,    70 
Parker,  Dr  Peter,  77 
Patriotism,  98,  99,  127 
Philanthropy,    Christian,    100, 

102,  103,  104,  105,  195,  205 
Preaching,  public,  80 
Presbyterian  Mission   Press  of 

Shanghai,  85,  vide  footnotes 
Prester  John,  62 
Prayer,    51 
Printing  Press,  Chinese,  85,  86 

Religion — 

the  Chinese  view  of,  120,  121 
early  stages  of,  30  ff. 
lack  of  reverence,  171,  172 
and  modern  intellectualism,  19 
and  superstition,  37,  38,  46 
Republican        Advocate,       The 

(quoted),   206 
Revolution,  the — 
inner  cause  of,  15,  16 
moral  calibre  of,  14,  24,  95 
the  past  as  powerful  factor 

in,  5 
previous     attempts     at     re- 
form, 9  ff. 
its     true  relationship  with 
Christianity,  211 
Ricci,  Matthew,  66,  67,  68 
Ross,  Dr  John,  30 

"Shang-ti,"  32 


Shanghai     Centenary     Confer- 
ence, 1907,  227 

Social    conditions,     129,      140, 
192  ff. 
reforms,  203  ff. 

Students'     Christian     Associa- 
tion, Chinese,  158,  170 

Student  Conferences,  151 

Students,  162  ff. 

work     amongst,     158,     229, 
230 

Students'    Union    Church,    To- 
kyo, 230 

Student  Volunteer  Movement, 
162 

Suicide,  202,  203 

Taoism,  37,  38,  41,  42,  125 

Tao-teh-hing,  37 

Theism,  30 

Tokyo,  229,  230 

Tradition,  power  of,  3  ff.,  34 

loosening  of,  14 
Translation     work,     155,     vide 

also  Robert  Morrison 
Medhurst    and    "  delegates  " 

Bible  version,  115 
Transmigration,  55 

Union  Medical  College,  104,  234 

Universism,  31,  32 

Universities — 

Nanking  Union,  234 
Shantung   Union,   234 
West  China  Union,  234 

Wang,  Pastor,  157 

Wang,  C.  T.,  157 

Wang,  K.  S.,  157 

Wesleyan  Methodist  Missionary 
Society,  230 

World's  Chinese  Students'  Jour- 
nal (quoted),  193 

Women,  position  of,  129,  193- 
201 

Xavier,  Francis,  66 

Yen,  Dr  W.  W.,  156,  157 
Yuan  Shih-k'ai,  94,  106 
Yung  Wing,  Dr,  88 


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